MegaMan Zero: Legend Reborn
by Mystic Deadman
Summary: Sixteen years following the end of the Neo Arcadian War, peace reigns in a reborn world. However, when dissenters begin to rise amongst the citizens, an unlikely hero takes up the sword.
1. Episode 1: Power Up!

**Disclaimer in profile, chill'uns.**

**As a note, this story is planning on destroying Mega Man canon. It starts in this chapter by bulldozing over the Mega Man Zero series. Once I feel comfortable with my MMZ rewrite, I'll post it here to clarify a few things. For now, please humor me and just run with it.**

**Also, this is the first time I've ever written anything, even a school essay, in this style, so my apologies if things get screwed up big time.  
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**POWER UP!**

_23XX._

_The nation of Neo Arcadia faced a terrible crisis. The energy source that powered Neo Arcadia reached a dangerously low level, creating a sense of fear among both the human and Reploid citizens alike. The ruling leader of Neo Arcadia, known as Copy X, began declaring innocent Reploids as Mavericks. He began to persecute the falsely accused Reploids in an effort to reduce the level of dependence on E-Crystals, the source of Neo Arcadia's power, and stretch out the already thin resource as far as possible._

_Many of the citizens of Neo Arcadia lost faith in their leader and defected from the nation, creating their own force to oppose the Neo Arcadian government's cruel oppression, calling themselves the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army. Led by Dr. Ciel Kimura and Unit 0, comprised of Sage Harpuia, Fairy Leviathan, Fighting Fefnir and Hidden Phantom, the reformed Guardians of Copy X, and the legendary Maverick Hunter Zero, the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army waged a war against the nation in an effort to both overthrow Copy X and find a solution to the crisis that plagued Neo Arcadia. In the end, both goals were achieved as Copy X fell and Dr. Kimura was able to develop the stable energy source known as the 'Ciel System.'_

_Unfortunately, a threat still remained. Dr. Weil, a scientist that had been banished from Neo Arcadia, sought revenge against the nation and aimed to destroy it completely. Zero and the rest of Unit 0 battled Weil's forces valiantly, bringing the fates of humans and Reploids not only in Neo Arcadia, but around the world, to rest on one final battle. Zero and Dr. Weil faced off one-on-one onboard the orbital satellite Ragnarok, each determined to end the war once and for all. Zero managed to defeat Weil, but as a result of the battle-_

"Iris." _Oh. Hold on._

I turn from my computer screen to see my dad poking his head through my door. "Have you finished your homework?"

I roll my eyes. Ugh. I hate it when he does that. He always manages to interrupt me when I'm doing something important and he never knocks. Whatever happened to privacy in one's room, anyway?

"Yes, dad. I finished it last night." I don't exactly hide the annoyance in my voice. My dad's used to it though, because he doesn't even respond to it.

"Alright then. Better get ready for school. You don't want to be late on your first day." He says as he leaves.

I roll my eyes again. Another thing I hate: summer homework. What kind of school allows its teachers to assign homework over summer vacation? That kind of thing should be illegal. I mean, we take a vacation so we can forget all the stuff we learn at school, not so we can do some lame essay on the historical significance of toilet paper.

Anyway, where was I? Oh. Right. Computer.

_As a result of Zero and Weil's battle, Ragnarok became incapable of maintaining its orbit around the Earth and fell to its destruction. Zero was unable to escape from the station before it crashed. Nobody knows what happened to him, but it's assumed that he was destroyed in the crash since all that was ever found was a badly damaged helmet that belonged to him. Despite their heroic efforts in saving not only a nation, but an entire planet, Dr. Kimura and the four Guardians disappeared from the face of the Earth as well. No traces of any of them were ever found, and no witnesses to their disappearances were present. Still, society today owes its peaceful existence to the efforts of Dr. Ciel Kimura and the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army._

I scrolled up on the web page, finding pictures taken during the War. Images of Zero and the Guardians roll onto my monitor and I can't help but look in awe. Zero. The legendary Maverick Hunter and leader of Unit 0. He looks _so_ cool in the pictures on the page. Shots of him fighting off numerous enemies with his favorite weapon, the Z-Saber, make me feel fuzzy inside. Clicking on a few links, I found more images of Zero. One showed him standing with the Guardians on a cliff overlooking Neo Arcadia. Another showed him carrying supplies into the Resistance base and smiling at another soldier, who I guess tripped over something and fell over. Man, what I wouldn't give to meet Zero in person.

Oh, right. You're probably wondering who I am. Well, my name is Iris Sakamoto. I'm 16 years old. I stand about 5 feet 7 inches and my weight is none of your business. Jerk. Anyway, I have what people call "soft" blue eyes and brown, waist-long hair. I live with my parents. My dad, Koji, is a software engineer for a huge computer company. My mom, Yuna, is an interior designer with no real sense of color coordination. But don't tell her I said that.

People look at me, then my parents, and wonder what happened. I mean, I've got long brown hair, while my dad has blonde hair that isn't too short, but isn't too long, and my mom has blonde hair that reaches just past her shoulders when it isn't tied back. How do two blondes have a daughter that turns out to be a brunette? Some kind of glitch in nature, I guess. It doesn't bother me, though, since I'm my own person. That's right. I'm a solitary woman. A woman who doesn't need to rely on anybody to get through life. A woman who knows what she's doing. A woman who...

"Ack!"

...just saw her clock on the nightstand and realized she's gonna be late for school. Great.

I took my book bag off my bed and made a mad dash to the front door.

"ByemombyedadI'mofftoschool!" I shouted as I left. I thought I heard mom say something, but I didn't bother to go back and ask what she said. Unless I haul buns, I'm gonna be late enough as it is and I don't want to make it worse.

* * *

"Oh dear," Yuna said, bringing a hand up to her cheek. "She didn't hear me."

"Well," Koji replied as he adjusted his tie. "I did tell her not to be late for school."

"She must have gotten absorbed in her personal research again." Yuna sighed. "Oh well. I suppose she can figure it out on her own."

"She's a smart girl. Look at who her mother is."

Yuna blushed slightly. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, get moving before _you're_ late for work." She shooed Koji out the door.

"I'm goin'! I'm goin'!" He laughed. "See you tonight."

Yuna waved to her husband as he entered his car and drove off to work. She then left for her own job, locking the front door behind her.

* * *

One mile, six hundred twenty-two feet. That's the distance from my house to the Neo Arcadia Higher Learning Academy. That's also the distance I just sprinted in order to get here as soon as I possibly could. I didn't even bother to slow down until the Academy's front gates were in sight. Thankfully, other students were pouring onto the property. Looks like I made it in time.

Just as I placed my hands on my knees and bend over to start puking out my lungs, my personal phone started to ring. I've got this sweet ringtone on my phone. I swear, if my life _ever_ got to be cool enough that I could have a theme song, my ringtone would totally be it. Anyway, I looked at the ID on my phone to see who was calling.

_'Her'_, it simply said. I smiled big time as I answered it.

"City morgue," I said.

"_Oh good,_" the voice on the other side answered. "_I was wondering if you had my best friend's social life checked in?_"

"Quiet, you." I looked around. "Where are you, anyway?" I suddenly felt an arm wrap itself tightly around my neck. Not tight enough to hurt or anything, but tight enough to keep me in place.

"Right here," my friend said with a smile on her face. Can't really say that's unusual. She almost always wore a smile. It was like the thing was plastered onto her face. "So then," she said, pushing something lightly into my spine. I figured it was her phone, since nothing else made sense. "What now?"

Without much thought, I then proceeded to stomp on her foot. She yelped in pain, and the arm around my neck loosened just enough for me to get my hands securely on it. Once I had a firm grip, I executed the sweetest shoulder toss I've ever done. At least, it would've been if my best friend hadn't managed to land on her feet and spin around like it was nothing.. We stared each other down, smiles still on our faces. Neither of us really cared about the looks we were getting from other students. At least we were tame this time. These greetings usually turn into an impromptu sparring match between us.

"Morning, Ibuki." I finally said after an eternity of silence, standing up straight as I did.

"Mornin', chick." She said, doing the same.

Meet my best friend, Ibuki Yamisaki. She's about the same size as me, only about an inch or two taller. She's got insanely long, jet black hair and eyes that are piercing when you look into them, even when she's having fun. I suppose that has to do with the fact that she's, oh, I don't know, a _ninja._ I don't mean one of those friends that always seems to sneak up on you when you least expect them and scare you by putting their hands on your shoulders and shouting "Boo!" No, I mean the people who are trained to hide in the shadows and wait for you to drop your guard before they jump out of seemingly nowhere and kick your butt in ways so cool it's almost impossible to describe. Or see.. She's been one ever since she was born, pretty much. I even know where she trains. I'd tell you, heck, I can even show you, but that would require that you move to Neo Arcadia first. It's easy to get lost here.

Well, I've got some experience myself. You think I could take on a ninja and only walk away with some bruises without knowing how to defend myself? The answer is no. No I couldn't. I had to do some major convincing with my parents, but I got them to let me take karate classes, which I'd been doing for the past ten years. As a result, I can say proudly that I hold a brown belt. I'd be a black belt, but Ibuki kept beating me up before my belt tests, forcing me to miss them.

"So then," Ibuki said, apparently snapping me out of some sort of trance. "First day of school, huh?"

I solemnly nodded. "Yep. Not going to be fun at all."

"Did you finish your homework?" She asked, eyeing me like some sort of criminal.

"Of course I did." I scoffed. "What do you take me for, some sort of delinquent?"

"That's something we should talk about later." She joked. I curled my lip in a mocking manner.

"Quiet, you." I looked at my phone. The clock on it said 8:25. Ten minutes before classes started. "We should get going. It's not gonna look good if we're late for class on our first day."

"True."

I pulled my schedule out of my uniform pocket. Ugh, our uniforms. It's bad enough that they want everyone dressing in a similar way to mask our individuality, but they want _everybody dressing the exact same way._ We girls didn't even get a different outfit from the boys. We were all forced to wear red blazers with a yellow button-down and red tie. The red slacks and yellow formal shoes only make the whole outfit look even more ridiculous on us. I mean, red and yellow? Really? It didn't work for Daredevil in those classic paper texts they called "comic books," and it doesn't work for us right now.

"Well, I'm off. Later, ninja girl." I say, darting off before she has a chance to respond. She wouldn't have said anything anyway. She'd have just punched me in the arm for calling her that. Then I would've punched her for punching me. Then it would've devolved into one of our impromptu sparring matches which would usually result in her beaming over me while I nurse some new bruise on my arm or leg.

Did I mention that my best friend was a ninja? And I'm totally not? Just a brown belt in karate?

Man, I wish my something cool would happen in my life.

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**There's a reference to a TV show in here. See if you can spot it.**

**Also, there's a reference to my inspiration in here as well. If you're _really_ good, you might be able to catch it.  
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	2. Episode 1: Part 2

4:30 PM

Sheesh. School was br-r-r-rutal. Most of my teachers just droned on about what we were expected to learn over the school year. Most of the material doesn't seem too hard, but the chemistry class was going to beat me silly. I never was very good with the sciences. The history class looked promising. We were going to go over the Neo Arcadian War in depth. I could hear more about my hero, Zero. Huh. Odd word combination.

Lunch wasn't too bad. I didn't really meet anybody new, but then again, I didn't really put myself out there. It's not so much that I'm antisocial, but early on in the school year, I prefer to focus more on the scholastic aspect of the educational process. Once the first week passes, though, bookworm Iris goes out the window in favor of assertive Iris.

School ended at three, but my day of learning doesn't end there. Once the desk classes are done, the self-defense classes start. It's only about an hour a day, three days a week, but I tend to stay after and practice a bit longer. I _did _have to make up for all the times I missed my black belt exams, after all. Darned Ibuki. If it wasn't for her, I'd have it by now and my sensei would stop breathing down my neck about it.

I stood in the middle of the dojo with my feet together, breathing heavily. Sweat formed a thin layer on my forehead. It was a good workout this time. I felt like I accomplished more than I usually did, though I'm not sure why. Everything seemed normal, though I noticed I could get a touch more height on my kicks. Maybe that's why I felt good about myself.

I took a deep breath, clearing my mind of any thoughts. With another deep breath, I bent forward at the waist, showing my respect. I was alone in the dojo, (my sensei trusts me with the keys and tells me to lock up when I leave) but that's no reason not to act like I'm still in class. I take my martial arts training very seriously, thank you very much.

I straightened up, finishing my bow. I took one final deep breath before a smile grew on my face. I can be normal me again. Or so I thought. Once I turned around to grab my stuff and change, I noticed a familiar shape leaning against the front door. My eyes narrowed.

"Leaving so soon?" Ibuki asked with a hint of amusement in her voice. She was wearing an outfit I came to hate. It was something like a brown bodysuit that went baggy around her legs. A brown cloth wrapped itself around her head. She didn't wear any shoes. She never did when she dressed like that. Copious amounts of tape were wrapped around her feet and shins instead. A slightly oversized black undershirt stood out against the rest of her outfit. The most evil smirk sat on her face. I knew what she wanted.

"I was planning on it, yeah." I answered. "I _do_ need to get home in one piece you know."

"Afraid I'll break you?" She sneered.

My eyebrow twitched. "No, but I hate having to explain my bruises to my parents."

She snickered as she walked up to me. A grin of my own formed. "You're not letting me go, are you?"

Ibuki pulled a black cloth over her nose, covering it along with her mouth. I couldn't exactly see it, but I knew her smile never left her face. "Since when do I let you go?" She asked as she took a step back, taking up a fighting stance.

I stepped back with my left foot as I took up my own stance. Moments of silence passed, neither of us moving an inch. We stared each other down, waiting for the right moment to act. It seemed like forever. Not a single sound could be heard, from inside or out. Our breathing slowed to almost inaudible levels.

It felt like something out of an old movie. All we needed were some dramatic camera cuts back and forth between our eyes. A car eventually passed by outside before Ibuki charged, fist pulled back. I held my ground, ready to end my losing streak.

* * *

7:15 PM

I dragged myself into my house. Not really caring about what my parents had to say, I kicked off my shoes, dropped my book bag next to the door and let my tired, aching body fall onto the couch in our living room. I was sore all over. My hands and feet throbbed, and I was sure I had some new bruises on my arms. I groaned both in pain and frustration. I couldn't believe it. Just when I thought I had her, she managed to pull out yet _another_ win. And, to make things worse, Ibuki dragged me around town while she tried to figure out what she wanted for her victory meal. Turned out to be something from _every_ fast food restaurant in town, and we've got _tons_ of those around. I'm pretty sure that if my wallet were alive, it'd be in as much pain as I am.

Where did the fight go wrong? Was it the punch I aimed at her nose, only for her to duck under it and deliver an uppercut to my jaw? Was it the shoulder toss I slammed her with, only for her to roll through and send a kick right into my stomach? The high kick at her head, which she blocked and countered into the most painful ankle lock I've ever felt?

I groaned again. I didn't want to think about my latest loss. I didn't want to think about my significantly lighter wallet. I didn't want to think about the fit mom and dad were going to have upon seeing me home late again. Mom should be starting dinner soon, meaning she's going to expect me to run out to the store and get some last-minute supplies. She's then going to see me in my exhausted condition and proceed to yell in one of my ears and watch as my brain flies out the other. Then she'll drag dad into it, who'll proceed to scoop up my brain, force it back into my head, and yell it out the opposite ear.

Speaking of which, why wasn't there any yelling? I didn't hear anything coming from the kitchen, and the ratting from Dad's keyboard couldn't be picked out from the silence either. Weird. Dragging myself to my feet, I stalked to the kitchen, only to see it empty. Just as I turn to search the rest of the house, I noticed a small note attached to the refrigerator. I read the note:

_Iris._

_Your father and I are going to be home late. Find something to eat and get to bed on time._

_Love,  
Mom._

Great. Home alone. I considered setting some traps, in case something went horribly wrong and criminals tried to break in and steal everything of value. Deciding against that, I started exploring my home.

What? I didn't introduce you to my house? Well, I could use an intro, too. See, my mom and dad's jobs pay pretty well, so we bought and moved into this house the week before. I haven't really gotten a chance to get to know it yet. It's a two story home, with the living room, kitchen, and a half-bath, half laundry room on the ground level. The second room has the three bedrooms in the house. It's not large, but it's big enough to fit a family of four, with the adults getting the master bedroom while the kids get the others each.

I decided to take in the silence and wonder what kinds of stories these walls would tell if they could. I often interrogate the walls of my home, not really expecting them to answer me. Mom and dad think it's weird. I guess I could see where they were coming from. I'd wonder about my daughter if I found her with a clipboard and pen in hand while asking the wall where it was on the night of August 14th.

As I walked next to the stairs that led upstairs, I lightly dragged my fingers on the wall. The paint job on the walls were slightly raised in some places, giving it that aged look. It's not so much the look I like as it is the feeling of the paint along my fingers.

I was too absorbed in the feeling, though, so I didn't notice when a small green square started to flash on the wall. I did, however, hear the distinct sound of steel shifting. I whipped my head around to see what was going on. A rectangular opening, just large enough for a grown man to fit through, stood where a wall once did. Peeking through, I noticed that a set of stairs led down, below ground. As far as I knew, we didn't have a basement or anything.

I thought for a few moments. There's a reason why these stairs are hidden. There's probably a reason why I didn't know about this beforehand, too. It had to be a really good reason, which stroked my curiosity. Now, the question I face was thus: Do I try to close whatever door I managed to open? Or do I slake my curiosity, go down and find out what secret is being hidden down there? I had to think carefully. On the one hand, I could figure out exactly how I opened this door, close it, act like nothing happened, then let this eat at me until I could find another opportune time to check it out. On the other hand, I could just get it out of the way now and be satisfied with what I find.

I took a deep breath, making up my mind. I took the first step down the stairs. At the time, though, I didn't know that it was the step that would change my life forever.

The stairs were longer than I thought. They led for what had to be nearly thirty feet underground, small lights illuminating the path in front of me. Once I made it to the bottom, I found myself in a dark room. The lights from the staircase weren't bright enough for me to see what was in the room, so I groped around on the walls in search of a light switch. Once I found it, I dragged my finger across it, turning on the lights. I did not see what I saw when the lights came on.

The room was much, much larger than I was expecting. People could come down here and throw an aerial disc around if it weren't for the various computers littering the place. Considering the sheer number of computers in the room, I wondered if this was supposed to be a control room of some kind. A large television screen was embedded into the far wall. The computers all came to life, data of some kind scrolling across the screens. I didn't bother to try and read any of it. It was just going to go over my head anyway. Looking around, I saw something that made me take in the sharpest breath I'd ever taken in.

Two cases stood against the wall that housed the stairs, slightly raised by a pedestal underneath each. That wasn't too great. What they held, however, was another matter. In one case was a set of bright red armor. My heart flipped upon seeing it. I couldn't believe it. The armor sitting in this case was the same armor I had seen in my Internet research. The armor that appeared in so many pictures on so many historical websites. The armor that belonged to a man I could only dream of meeting.

Zero's armor.

I lightly traced my fingers over the glass that housed the armor. The red, blue, white and gold on the armor shone brightly. Someone clearly cared for it. It didn't even look like it was used in a war, let alone centuries old.

Why didn't mom and dad tell me about this? When did they come across Zero's armor? Why isn't this in a museum. And more importantly, why didn't my parents tell me about this? I fawned over the armor. My eyes watered as I soaked in the fact that the armor of the legendary Crimson Knight himself was locked away and well maintained _under my freaking house_! I swear, if someone took a picture of me at that moment, they would be taking a picture of the perfect example of a fangirl's dream coming true.

Tearing my eyes away from Zero's armor was the hardest thing I've ever done. Harder than trying to convince Ibuki to let me take my black belt test for once. And I tried. She wouldn't have it. It was once I looked away from the armor that I noticed the other case. I stepped in front of it and twisted my face a bit in confusion.

The other case also held a set of armor, similar in style to Zero's. The main differences in this one, though, were the colors it had. It was mostly dark purple in color. The helmet shared the purple tone, with part of it in black, creating a nice color blend. A large green, triangular gem sat in the center of the forehead. Traces of red formed lines around the armor, standing out against the darker shades.

Looking back and forth between the sets, I noticed another major difference. The darker colored armor was smaller than the other one. I wondered who it belonged to. It had to have been someone either related to or close to Zero. Thing was, though, was that nothing I could remember from my research said anything about Zero having a sister or girlfriend or wife or anything like that. I tapped my chin in thought, trying to figure out who it could've belonged to. There weren't any real significant Resistance soldiers I could think of besides Zero and the Four Guardians. Dr. Ciel wasn't a fighter. Her sister, Alouette, was too young to do anything on the field. So...who?

Wait. I leaned my head to the side a bit and squinted slightly. Something seemed odd. The second armor...was it..._my_ size? No way. It couldn't be. I was just seeing things. I did imagine wearing it, though. I pictured myself in my head, striking with a saber in my hands, just like Zero would. Man, that would be so cool to do.

Deciding that they hadn't gotten me into enough potential trouble, my fingers danced lightly on the glass case holding the darker armor. A small green light to the side started flashing. I panicked as the glass parted down the middle as a sharp hiss filled the otherwise silent room. The case was opening, and I was hoping and praying that mom and dad weren't home yet. Darting to the staircase, I looked up in expectation. After a few moments of nothing happening, I decided that they weren't home. Good.

I ran back to the twin cases. The case for the dark armor still sat open, as if waiting for something. I stared at the armor. Something inside me wanted to try it on. Just to see if it fit.

_Go on, _it teased. _You know you want to._

Quiet, you. You've gotten me into enough trouble as it is. Although, it was extremely tempting. And it's not like I couldn't cover up the fact that I was here. All I need is to use a little glass cleaner, flip a switch, and figure out how to close the door. See there? Poetry.

I reached out and let my fingers graze against the helmet. It felt smooth. Really smooth. Almost like there was some kind of thin invisible layer between my fingers and the paint. It must've been waxed or something. I brought my fingers back. I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't even be down here. A quick run up- and downstairs and it would be like I was never there.

Before I could make up my mind, though, the green gem on the helmet shone for a moment. I thought it might've been from the light, catching at just the right angle, but as I think about it now, somehow I don't think that was it. I think it might've been the armor itself calling out to me.

Whatever it was, it was all the convincing I needed. I reached out with both hands and grasped the helmet. I lifted it from the hook it was hanging from and, with the deepest breath I'd ever taken, turned it around and gently set it on my head.

I scrunched my brows in mild disappointment. I shook my head a bit, revealing my concern. The helmet was loose, too big for my head. Sighing, I reached up to take the helmet off. I never got the chance. Before I knew it, the gem on the helmet lit up, casting a green light over the rest of the armor. The helmet then started to adjust itself to my head, causing me to panic harder than I ever have. It didn't take long, though, before the helmet was snug against my head.

_That's enough for me,_ I thought. _I'm putting this thing back before I'm grounded for the rest of eternity._

My hands grasped the sides of the helmet, hoping to get the thing off me. I pushed, but grunted in pain a bit. The helmet didn't move. I gave it another try. No go this time either. I kept at it, trying to take the helmet off. Try as I might, though, the thing was more stubborn than I gave it credit for.

I sighed again, wondering if I'd ever breathe normally tonight. Well, here we are. I have a sweet looking black-and-purple helmet on my head that absolutely refuses to work with me and come off. I looked over the rest of the armor, wondering if I should just finish the job. I shrugged. Might as well. I stepped up to the rest of the armor, watching as the case bottom moved forward automatically, ushering the armor out to me.

_How do I put this stuff on ? _I asked myself. I searched it over, looking for a way to do so. I noticed that the backs of each piece were open, making it easy to slide into them. _Well, here we go..._

I stepped behind the set and took a step forward, fitting myself into the open sections. The armor suddenly closed itself around my limbs and chest, making me jump slightly. A sort of black bodysuit formed over the exposed sections of my body, which were mainly my joints and neck. I took another deep breath. I picked my hand up to admire the way the whole thing looked on me. I moved around pretty easily, despite the fact that I had plenty of extra weight on me.

Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. A small blue square lit up in the corner of the room. One of the computer screens flashed the words "TRANS SERVER READY" in red and yellow. I stepped off, hearing the hiss from the case again as it sealed itself. Wondering what a "Trans Server" was, I walked up to the blue square in curiosity.

_Well, _I thought to myself,_ let's see how much more trouble I can get into._ With a smirk, I stepped onto the blue square. An odd tingling sensation ran through my body as my vision faded.

* * *

**Blatant movie reference in this one. See if you can spot it. Answers for references in chapter 1 will be revealed in the next chapter.  
**


	3. Episode 1: Part 3

It was the weirdest feeling. Everything tingled for what felt like forever. Everything faded to black. I wasn't sure what was happening. Did I make some kind of mistake and end up disintegrating every part of my body? Did my story end before it had a chance to start?

Before I had time to mull over those questions, lights in all sorts of colors began flashing before my eyes. The weirdest, yet best light show I'd ever seen was playing out in front of me. It was as if I was on some crazy stuff, even though I've never considered doing anything like that. That being drugs, of course. Mom, dad, Ibuki and sensei would all destroy me if I did anything like that. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen.

The colors faded again, this time giving way to the darkness of night. Stars dotted the sky as I realized where I was. Looking around, I saw the lights of the city all around me. I was on a rooftop somewhere downtown. I had no idea how I got there, but I was willing to do it again, just to see that awesome light display again.

The lights from the street barely reached me up here, casting shadows along my dark armor. I lifted my hand again, playing with the dim light as it shone off the armor. I could barely see in front of me, a point made clear by the fact that in trying to move forward, I ended up nearly tripping over the edge of the building I was on and breaking my neck.

Smooth one, Iris. Real smooth.

I managed to regain my balance before splattering myself over the sidewalk below. Stepping back into the middle of the roof, I noticed there was a small blue square pulsing in the ground. I guess that's where I popped up, since the square matched the color of the square back at the secret base.

That's what I call it. Since it looks like some kind of high-tech base hidden under my house and all.

Anyway, I figured that if I stepped back onto the square, it might lead me back. I made a mental note of where it was. I was going to take this armor out for a test run and I wanted to know where I needed to go in order to get home.

Spinning on my heels, I looked around for the nearest building to move to so that I could have an open place to practice without worrying about accidentally going home. Unfortunately for me, the nearest place was a good distance away. Walking over the edge, I got a good idea of how far away the next spot was, and how long I would have to consider how huge of a mistake it was to try and make a leap from one seven-story building to another.

I took a deep breath, and started walking backwards slowly. The idea was ridiculous. My rationalization was even worse. I'm a martial artist. I've put plenty of work into strengthening my legs. Why _wouldn't_ I make it? It was only, what, seven-eight feet? I could make that jump in my sleep.

In a dream, maybe.

No! Now's not the time for negative thinking! I just have to close my eyes, take a deep breath, and go for it. Once I calmed my nerves, I started running. The rooftop I was on was pretty small, so I didn't build up as much momentum as I wanted, but once I was at the edge, I pushed off as hard as I could to try and clear the gap.

Boy, did I clear it.

I flailed my limbs about as I sailed through the air and clear over my target. I started to panic, thinking there wasn't anything that could change my fate. Except maybe the ground below acting like rubber and bouncing me off to keep me from going kersplat. That was before I noticed the roof just past the one I wanted to get to. Bracing myself, I expected a hard landing. Steel isn't the softest substance in the world, and just about every building in town is made primarily of the stuff.

My landing was a lot softer than I thought it was going to be. I landed easily on my feet, crouching low to absorb the force of the impact. I sat there for a couple of moments, trying to absorb what happened in my mind.

In all honestly, I was supposed to barely make it, forcing me to catch myself on the edge and pull myself up before I met my doom. I was _not _ supposed to jump _way_ over my target and, as a result, sit here and think about the jump I wasn't supposed to make.

I looked down at my legs, wondering exactly how much strength they had in them. Maybe the suit had something to do with my leap? I don't recall ever jumping that high in my life. Deciding to give it a try, I tensed my legs in preparation for another one.

I pushed straight up off the roof, and holy cats! I went up, and up, and up and didn't think I'd_ ever_ come down! Looking straight forward, I could see in front of me for at least a mile or two. Lights from the city continued down for what seemed like forever. I scanned the area in front of me as I rose. Maybe I could figure out where exactly I was.

A few hundred feet away was a lit mass of steel and heavy equipment. It was the new theme park the city had been working on for the past couple of years. Yeah, despite our incredible advancements in every field of technology possible, construction still takes forever. It was supposed to open this year.

Further down was the massive tower that marked the center of our fair city. The Neo Arcadian headquarters of the world renowned pharmaceutical company, Berkana Industries. The company settled itself in our town several years following the end of the Biometal Era that saw the defeats of both Serpent Slither, CEO of Slither, Inc. and Albert Waller, the creator of the first Biometal that threatened the world. Once Slither went down, his company went bankrupt almost immediately and the tower that housed the company was abandoned.

Shortly after Slither, Inc. went out of business, the filthy-rich, infinitely famous Berkana family moved into the building, bringing their company and the profits from their medical manufacturing with them. I can't say that being here was a negative point, since the Berkana family was noted not only for being able to swim in the money they make, but for spreading the wealth. They helped rebuild the city after the Biometal Era left it in virtual ruins. I guess we as a city owe them big time if you think about it.

As I began my decent back to the building I jumped from, I couldn't help but wish I could have the kind of money that the Berkanas had. Millions upon millions of Zenny, just waiting for me to spend it. A huge smile crossed my face as the thoughts played out in my mind. It would be the sweetest thing in the world.

However, much like my physical body, my thoughts came back to earth as I hit the rooftop. Another low crouch kept anything from hurting from the landing. I knew for sure after that jump; my natural strength didn't lift me that high. The armor was enhancing my physical abilities. At least, my legs were being pumped.

I stood up straight just as a hard gust of wind shoved me in the back. My hair, which hung under my helmet since there was no way I was ever going to get it to fit inside, whipped around my head and slapped me in the face. A few strands found their way to my lips, trying to get inside and give me a bad taste that wouldn't go away for a long time. I went to brush the hair from my face when I noticed a change that I hadn't seen before. My hair changed colors. Gone was the brown hue that separated me from my parents when the sheer length of it wasn't factored in. The strands that rested in between my fingers were blonde. I guess the helmet had something to do with it, but I wasn't sure how it worked.

Curiosity set in again. Sure, I'm already history when mom and dad get home, so let's take it a step further and get my money's worth, shall we? Let's see...my hair's a new color...I can jump higher and farther than I ever have before...what else can this thing do?

Before I can test out anything else, the sound of glass shattering broke the relative silence of the night. An alarm klaxon blared loudly, drawing the attention of nearby citizens to the source of the sound. A small computer store apparently had an infestation problem, because when I peered over the edge of the building I was on to see what was happening, several armored scumbags, humans and Reploids alike, poured out of the shop carrying numerous pieces of equipment with them.

Oh, these guys were _not_ trying to pull off a heist in _this_ city. They're seriously asking for it.

As if it either read my mind or analyzed the situation, my helmet reacted accordingly. A metallic mask formed over me, covering my mouth and nose while leaving only my eyes exposed. The face mask shared the same color pattern as the rest of my armor; the majority of it was black while a dark purple column ran down the middle. I smiled under the mask. Now was the best time to give this thing the test drive it deserved.

All the morons ran in the same direction, making it easy to cut them off. I ran after them along the roofs, somehow figuring out how to control my leaps. Good thing, because keeping them under control made it easy for me to keep from being discovered. I kept following them, curious to see where they were going.

People along the route watched the spectacle the thieves made in disbelief. It wasn't every day that one saw a convoy of criminals parading down the street carrying goods that weren't theirs to begin with and probably wouldn't be if they did things the right way.

The crooks kept running, moving for what seemed like miles due to the many twists and turns they made. The police weren't exactly on top of things, meaning that I was tailing these guys on their own. Cool. They eventually came to a stop in an alley around a mile away from the store they robbed. Gathering around in a circle, the morons dropped their lifted loot and admired what they'd stolen. I stopped on the rooftop just above them. When I looked over the edge, they looked like they were saying something, but I couldn't tell what. I focused hard on their lips, trying to read them. Again, my helmet must've been clairvoyant, because a set of microphones and speakers fired up, letting me hear what they had to say.

"Check this stuff out," one said. "This is awesome!"

"No kidding," another answered. "We got some sweet stuff this time."

A third spoke up. "Think about the kind of havoc we could create if we use this stuff right!"

"Who cares?" Number four. "I betcha we could sell this stuff for a pretty Zenny."

"Ka-ching, boys." Five, this one a female. The way she spoke, I guessed she was the leader of this little group. "This is serious ka-ching."

"So, boss," the first guy said to her. Yep, she was the leader. "What're we gonna do with all this swag?"

'Swag?' Who says something like that anymore? I gagged a bit. That was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.

"Half and half, boys." She said. "Half of this stuff goes on the market. Namely the low-end stuff. The good goods stay with us. Get us the right computer geek, and we can bring this city to its knees. These people are gonna regret forgetting about who we are! Nobody'll ignore us ever again!"

"You're not being ignored now!" I called out before I could stop myself. My voice obviously projected itself clearly, because five heads snapped up in my direction. The crooks stared at me. I stared back down at them. Moments passed in sheer silence with not a single soul moving.

_Great_, I thought to myself. _Now what do I do? I shouldn't have opened my big mouth!_

"Who the heck are you?" The leader screamed. She clearly was not thrilled about me being there. That's when I realized that I had another problem.

I hadn't picked a name.

_Oh smeg,_ my overactive mind decided to say. _What do I say? What do I say? WHAT DO I SAY?_

I said the first thing that came to mind.

"I don't think that matters right now."

Deciding that it was the best time to do so, I gracefully leapt into the air. Flipping around a couple of times, I landed on my feet a short distance away from the group.

"What matters is that you're going to return everything you've taken."

More silence. I could swear some passer-by whistled Dixie as he walked down the street. Once the whistling was out of earshot, the robbers all started laughing their heads off. I could feel my face fall as the laughter continued for what felt like...for...ev...er.

_Great. They're not taking me seriously._

Once the leader's cackling died down, she found the ability to speak. "A..a...aha!...and what'll you do if we don't?"

I made what I felt to be a big mistake at the time.

"I'll make you." I forced my eyes to narrow slightly in an attempt to look more intimidating. I didn't think it worked, and a second roar of laughter confirmed it.

The leader's laughter died down before her cohorts, allowing her to get a good look at my face. She apparently noted the fact that I hadn't budged because her eyes widened slightly in surprise. She held up a hand, signaling the others to quiet down. Which they did, those sheep.

"You're serious?" She asked as her smile faded.

"Why shouldn't I be?" I replied, trying to sound cool. Man, I sure seem to be trying a lot of things tonight, don't I?

"Look, kid," she said. "First off, you need to take some more math classes. I mean, there's five of us and only one of you. How did you plan on making us do _anything_?"

My eyebrow twitched slightly. She had a point.

"Secondly, the police wouldn't believe you if you told them anything. Look at you. You're a joke trying way too hard to be taken seriously."

My brow twitched again. A joke? Really?

"Thirdly," her smile returned. "GET HER!"

My eyes widened as the five suddenly jumped up and circled around me. Wicked grins sat on all their faces. This is what I get for having such a big mouth and not being able to keep it quiet. I looked around, trying to find a way to escape. I could try jumping back onto the roof I was on, but I doubted that I could make it back up. Seeing no way out, I took a step back and fell into a fighting stance.

"Someone's gonna get hurt real bad..." They chanted over and over. They'd clearly practiced this before. It made me wonder exactly how long these guys had been doing the whole breaking-in-and-stealing-things game and how many people they might've hurt doing it. I was _so_ not interested in being their next victim.

One of the goons leaped forward, throwing a punch at my head. Thanks to my many years of training, I expertly blocked his attack and shot my own fist into his abdomen. He doubled over in pain, allowing me to take his still extended arm and twist it in a large circle, forcing him to flip over on his back.

Unfortunately, I forgot that this was more than one-on-one and was given a painful reminder when one of the others rammed me from behind. I stumbled forward and slammed face-first into the side of a building. I manged to bounce off the wall and into another thug. A hard punch sent me reeling into another of them. It kept going just like that, as hit after hit kept bouncing me from one to another.

One of them tried to get cute and kick me. I managed to catch his leg with one arm and slammed the back of my fist into his face with the other, sending him to the ground. Seeing his friend, I guess, take a hit, another one sprang into action and jumped on my back. He wrapped his arm around my neck and squeezed as hard as he could, trying to choke the life out of me. I tried to pull his arm off of me, but he only tightened his hold and made it that much harder to breathe. I could hear the others cheering him on.

Everything started to fade out. I needed to get this guy off me and fast, before I pass out. Finally remembering my training, I jammed my elbow into his side as hard as I possibly could. His arm loosened around my as he cried out in pain. Another elbow to the side finally convinced him to let me go. He clutched his side in agony as I fell over and coughed on sweet air. Before I had a chance to recover, however, the rest of the group circled me again.

"Well," the leader started. "This certainly _has_ been fun, but we really need to get going." She looked at the biggest person in the group. And this guy was huge. He _had_ to be at least 300 pounds in weight. "Put her to sleep." She ordered.

The tank nodded as a grin formed. I struggled to get to my feet, still wanting to catch my breath. My right hand groped at the air behind me, hoping to find something I could use to fend him off. When I reached around my waist, I felt my fingers graze something sticking out of my back.

_Please,_ I thought as I grabbed it, _let this be something useful._ I yanked at it hard.

Boy, it was useful alright.

I circled my arm around and held whatever-it-was in front of me. It turned out to be a sweet-looking sword. The hilt was as black as the majority of my armor. The blade itself was jade in color, as I found out later. Looking at it, you could easily see through the blade, which was the length of my forearm. I know that because when I pulled the sword out, the hilt was apparently backwards and the blade ran along my arm. It wasn't that long, but it was enough to make the tank take a step back in hesitation.

"D'uh, boss?" He said. I'm going to take a wild guess and say he wasn't that bright. "She's goda knife on her. Whudo I do?"

My eye twitched. Knife? Anyone with half a brain, which this guy clearly doesn't, could see that the weapon in my hand was a sword that's apparently made of awesome.

"Who cares?" The leader shouted. "Just finish her off so we can get to work!"

"D'uh, alright den." He turned back to me and took a step toward me.

Big mistake. All I have to do is take this sword and...wait. I don't know how to handle a sword! I've never practiced with one before!

Before I knew it, though, the tank was on the ground behind me, rolling around in pain. I didn't bother to turn around. By the way the guy was groaning, I knew he was done for the night. The others looked at me, fright plastered across every face.

"H-h-how did you do that?" One of them almost screamed. He was scared silly.

I looked at my hand for a moment as I answered him as honestly as I could:

"I wish I knew."

They couldn't see it, but a huge smile formed on my face. Handling one of these things was apparently easier than I thought. I fell back into my fighting stance, sword still backwards in my hand.

"Anybody care to help me figure it out?"

Leader Lady fumed. Her biggest goon was taken down by someone who didn't know what they were doing. She was probably embarrassed. Heck, I would be too if I were her.

"GET HER!" she screamed. The rest of the group fell in on me, like the sheep I figured they were. I mean, they just saw me take down their biggest, possibly strongest ally and they're still charging me because she said to? Poor guys.

I leaped forward, closing the distance between me and the first guy I saw. I slashed at him with the sword, causing sparks to fly off his armor with each hit. One final swipe across the chest sent him spinning to the ground in a shower of light and heat. Another tried to get me from behind. No way I was falling for that again. I spun around to meet him and gave him a couple quick tastes of my sword, bringing him down quickly. Another came at me from my left, foolishly screaming as he did. My left hand instinctively reached behind me and yanked a second sword from behind my back, catching him across the abdomen as I brought it around.

I looked around a bit to see if anyone else was going to try and attack me. The four I had just taken down all rolled around and groaned, their butts summarily kicked. All that were left standing were me and an absolutely livid Leader Lady.

"YOU IDIOTS!" she screamed. "WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR?"

"You're paying these guys?" I asked sarcastically. "I'd demand my money back."

"Shut up, you! Who are you, anyway?"

"I told you; that doesn't matter right now." I smiled as I shifted myself into a new stance. I crossed my arms in front of me with my right over my left, allowing both backward swords to run along my arms. "Now then, care to try your luck?"

She charged me in anger, a fist pulled back so that she could punch me once she was close enough.

She never had the chance.

A quick swipe with my right arm's sword sent her spiraling to the ground as sparks flew, making sure her face kept its appointment with the pavement. I couldn't believe how easy that was. How she even _got_ to be Leader Lady was, and still is, beyond me.

I stood up straight, looking around to admire my work. The entire gang was on the ground in a collective heap of pain. None of the armor was badly damaged from what I could see, so I figured they were hurting more from the force of the hits.

A red pulsing light began flashing nearby. _Finally,_ I thought. _The police always seem to get to anywhere last._ Remembering about the stolen items, I ran over to the small pile and checked on the items. Nothing seemed to be damaged, which was good. The items could be returned in perfect condition. A patrol car passed by, shining lights into the alleyways on both sides of the street. They had to have noticed me, because it quickly reversed and stopped at the end of the alley. A pair of officers stepped out, Buster Pistols drawn and trained on me.

"Don't move!" One screamed. I rolled my eyes as I returned the swords to where they belonged.

"Those," I pointed to the downed gang, "are the thieves you're looking for. The stuff they stole is nearby."

"Stop talking!" The officer shouted again. "You're under arrest."

My eyes widened. "For what? I did all the hard work for you! All you guys have to do is take them to jail and return the stuff they stole!"

"Yeah, sure." he said. "For all I know, you're part of this little group. Now put your hands behind your head."

"Oh please. I'm the one who kicked the snot out of these guys." I put my hands on my hips. "This is a great way to say 'thank you', by the way."

Both officers slowly advanced on me. "I said put your hands behind your head." The talker repeated. Once they were both a short distance away from their car, I saw my chance.

"Love to," I said. "But I've got an appointment that I can't afford to be late for." With that, I made a mad dash toward their car. I jumped on top, feeling the car shift underneath my weight. "See ya." I offered a quick salute before using the car to springboard up to the rooftops.

I could hear the talker shouting after me, though I didn't bother to listen. I smiled under my mask, proud of the work I did. I busted a gang of thieves and looked cool doing it. Except when I was the one taking hits, of course. Such a shame that nobody was there to see it. At least, nobody that isn't being loaded into a patrol car. Now, if only I could remember where that little blue square was...

I looked around, trying to figure out where exactly I was. As I searched, I noticed a pulsing column of blue light off in the distance. Leaping across the rooftops, I made my way toward the light.

Save the jokes for later, please.

I finally reached my destination, the light from the pulsing square washing over me. _Welp,_ I mused. _Time to go home, I guess. Maybe if I'm lucky, mom and dad won't be home yet and I can hide the fact that I stole this armor and stopped some thieves. Huh, that's ironic._

I smiled as I stepped onto the square. As I thought, the tingly feeling flooded my skin again as everything disappeared from my sight. My smile grew as the light show played out in front of me. Looking down, I could see that I was in one piece as I teleported. I wondered why I didn't check things out the first time around. Pretty lights must've distracted me.

The show faded as a concrete floor formed around my feet. The blue square I saw in the secret base sat below my boots. I seriously wanted to take that trip again, just so I could see those lights again. That was when I made my biggest mistake of the night.

I looked up.

I saw two people standing before me. Each had the same look: a pair of glaring eyes, crossed arms and the biggest frowns I've ever seen.

"Uh..." I intelligently said. "...hi?"

**

* * *

Movie reference in this one. Find it if you can.**

**Answers to Chapter 1:**

**Anime: Digimon Adventure 02, Episode 1. In the English dub, T.K.'s mom mentions having to do an essay on the historical significance of toilet paper.**

**Inspiration: Iris' last name, Sakamoto, is a nod to Koichi Sakamoto, who worked on my inspiration for years. There's a clue for you.**


	4. Episode 1: Final

Crud.

Mom and Dad were staring me down with the most irate expressions I've ever seen. They're even angrier than the time Ibuki and I had one of our impromptu sparring matches in the dining room at our last house and I ended crashing through the dining table in a failed attempt at flipping over her. I ended up being locked in my room for a month and was fed bread and water during that horrible time in my life.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating slightly. They gave me regular meals.

"Uh...hi?" I said, hoping they wouldn't notice the armor.

"Hello, Iris." Mom said, doing very little to hide the aggravation in her voice. "It's nice to see that you've figured out a way to entertain yourself while your father and I worked late."

"How did you guys know I was down here?" I asked stupidly. Dad thumbed toward the stairs.

"You left the door open." He said plainly. Oh yeah. Stupid question.

"Oh."

"Now then," he continued, just as irritated as Mom. "Would you care to explain not only what it is you think you're doing down here, but also how you managed to find this room in the first place?"

"Well," I answered nervously. "In all honesty, I don't know. I was just kinda roaming around and the door just kinda opened...?

"Right..." Mom said. "Because purposefully locked doors always magically manage to open themselves." I could almost _see_ the sarcasm dripping off of her words.

I held my hands up in defense "No, really! I was just kinda tracing my fingers on the wall and the next thing I knew a piece of the wall was gone and these stairs led down here!"

Dad shifted his weight around on his feet while Mom pinched the bridge of her nose.

"She ran her finger over the scanner..." Dad said, mostly to himself.

"You think?" Mom shouted. Now I was worried. The only time Mom _ever_ shouted was when she was working on the inside of a huge house and she needed to talk to someone from a distance away.

Wait. Scanner?

"Scanner?" I asked.

"Fingerprint scanner." Dad answered. "Other than a DNA sample, it's one of the most reliable methods of security in use today."

"So, why was I able to come down here if I didn't even know about the scanner to begin with?"

Mom rolled her eyes. "Take off that helmet before you say anything else."

"I don't know how?"

Mom rolled her eyes again before stepping forward and putting her hands on my head. Her thumbs found where the corners of my jaws would be and pushed up. I heard a small click and felt the helmet loosen its grip on my head. Mom picked up her hands, taking the headgear with them.

"How did you do that?" I asked as I rubbed my head, noticing that my hair had shifted back to its usual brown hue.

"Release buttons along the jawline." She said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Thanks for making me feel smart, Mom.

"Now why are you wearing that armor?" Mom asked, still clearly irritated with me.

"I...uh...I..." Great. So much for my incredible linguistic skills under pressure.

"You...you...you...?" Mom repeated. I get it. You're mad. "You what?"

"I saw the armor sitting in that case over there." I pointed to where the suit's display case stood against the wall. "When I touched the glass on the case, it opened up and the armor moved out. I got a little curious and decided to try it on."

"Okay, then." Dad said. It seemed like he was calming down. "What were you doing beating up a gang of computer thieves?"

"Who said anything about computer thieves?" I asked, hoping they didn't see anything on TV.

Mom picked up a small remote on a nearby desk. She pointed it at the huge monitor on the far wall and turned it on. A news program popped up.

A_t approximately 8:45 this evening, "Starlight Systems," a computer shop in the city's business district, was broken into and robbed. Eyewitnesses stated that 5 people left the store with electronic goods in hand. Police investigated the matter and searched for the suspects for over an hour. Authorities were eventually able to locate the suspects one mile north of "Starlight Systems" on the ground along with the goods they were suspected of stealing. The perpetrators were found on the ground in pain, according to the Police Department, as a sixth figure stood over them. Police apprehended the robbery suspects and recovered over Twenty-five Thousand Zennies worth of electronic equipment. On-duty officers were unable to apprehend the sixth suspect, citing an inability to pursue the suspect after she leaped onto a building and made her escape. As it is a matter of investigation, police have not released the names of any of the six suspects, but have released a physical description of the suspect who was able to escape._

A picture of me in my armor came up on the screen. It was only a sketch, but it was pretty well done. I pursed my lips in amusement. I admit; I was impressed. I looked good.

_The suspect appears to be a Reploid. She is female, appearing about 22 years in age, approximately 5 feet, 9 inches in height and approximately 175 pounds in weight._

I felt a tick pop up on my forehead. I'm not seven years older than I was last year and I most certainly do _not_ weigh 175 pounds. Jerks.

_The armor the suspect was wearing is black and purple with thin red accents. Police advise that she is armed and dangerous and that citizens should NOT attempt to apprehend her. Information about the suspect should be reported at-_

Mom turned the display off and turned back to face me.

"Wait," I asked. "What time is it?"

Mom looked at her watch. "9:30."

"Wow...guess they're right about time flying when you're having fun." I mused. Mom looked at me wide-eyed.

"Fun?" She asked.

"Er...yeah..." I scratched the back of my head. "I kinda enjoyed kicking the tar out of those guys. It felt good stopping them from doing whatever it was they were going to do."

Mom brought her hand back up to her head. Instead of fighting off a headache, she cupped her cheek with it and chuckled. She turned to Dad, who looked as confused as I probably did.

"She's your daughter, alright." She said simply before sitting down at a computer, setting the helmet next to the monitor.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Well, Iris," Dad started. "There's something about your mother and I that we haven't told you."

My eyebrow hitched. When did I walk into a bad TV show? "What?"

Dad simply smiled before he turned to Mom. "Think you can figure out what was stolen and what they could've used it for?"

Mom turned back to look at Dad. "Who do you think you're talking to?" She said with a smirk. She looked at the computer she was sitting in front of. "All I have to do is shake off a bit of rust."

The next few moments were of Mom doing the most amazing thing I think I could've ever seen Mom do. Her fingers began dancing over the keyboard. All kinds of computer code popped up on the screen, making my head spin just from looking at it.

"Wow," she said to herself. "I really _am_ rusty. I need to get some practice..."

"What are you doing?" I asked out of curiosity. My curiosity's gonna get me into some serious trouble some day.

"Oh, nothing much." Mom said in a sing-song-like voice. "Just hacking into the Neo Arcadian National Crime Registry."

My eyes bugged. "Hacking? Can you do that?"

"Not legally."

Before I knew it, the screen changed colors. The NANCR, for short, main page popped up, waiting for someone to log in. Mom typed in a few more illegal commands, making me wonder exactly how long she'd been doing stuff like this.

"Now then," she said. "To find the report that was filed for tonight's little escapade." Some more typing was done before she found what she wanted.

"Okay, let's see..." She paused for a moment as she looked over the list. "High-end tech. Top of the line processors, drives, video and sound cards. Either these guys were planning on creating some incredible gaming setups, or they were planning on selling this stuff."

My brows furrowed as a thought came to mind. Mom could hack with this stuff, and what they got was probably just a step down from what was in here...

"The guys that I stopped said something about making this town remember who they were. How much damage could you do if you were to get this stuff to a top-level computer geek?"

Mom turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I-I-I mean 'expert'. I think."

"Hm..." She said as she thought. "I suppose if you got someone who knew what they were doing to get all of this together, you could wreak some serious havoc on the city's systems. Emergency Response, power grids, bank accounts and information...all of that could be copied, altered or destroyed pretty easily by an expert." She then smiled. "You stopped a potential terrorist ring before they could even get started. Good for you."

I smiled too. I didn't even know that kind of thing could happen with the stuff they grabbed. However, one more thing nagged at me.

"What did you mean when you said I was Dad's daughter."

"He liked kicking butt in his day."

I frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Well," Dad said. "What would you say if I told you that the armor that's in the other case used to be mine?"

"Huh? Yours? But that armor belonged to Zero, didn't it?" Dad just nodded as a smile grew on his face. "But then that would mean that..." Realization dawned on me. "You're Zero..."

I looked at Mom.

"Then that would make you..."

Mom turned around in her seat, a smile on her face as well.

"Ho-boy. I'm the daughter of the legendary Maverick Hunter and the Ciel System inventor..."

"Let's keep it our secret, shall we?" Mom said, placing a finger on her lips.

"So if you're Zero and Ciel, why did you guys disappear?"

"Because," Dad said. "Even though we led an entire Army for what we felt was, and turned out to be, the greater good, celebrity status isn't exactly appealing to us."

"We went into hiding because of all the media attention we were getting. We were swamped. Day and night. It got ridiculous. We couldn't have a moment to ourselves if we tried. And believe me, we tried."

"So you've been hiding as normal people this whole time?"

"Sixteen years of sweet peace." Mom said.

"Okay then." I said, slightly skeptical. "If that's Dad's armor over there, then who did this armor belong to?"

Mom smiled. "Not 'didn't', 'does'. It's _your _armor." My brow went up again. "We've been building it just for you."

"You...were?" I asked. Something didn't sound right. "You built an entire set of armor just for me?"

"Yes." Dad said, nodding as he did. "You see, when Copy X and Dr. Weil were defeated a while ago, a new era began. The threat of false labeling came to an end and your mother's new energy system was just about finished. The Ciel System is the most reliable Reploid energy system ever created. While the overall goal behind the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army was to overthrow the Neo Arcadian government, another idea was to stall for time while your mother perfected it."

"They did an excellent job," Mom added. "While most of the work I put into my experiments and research resulted in failed trials, the Ciel System was the culmination of all of our efforts. Thanks to the fall of Neo Arcadia's top leaders, new leaders were elected by the citizens of the nation to spearhead the restoration not only of the country, but the entire world in a sense. Mavericks had all but disappeared from the face of the earth.

"Unfortunately, they hadn't _completely_ gone extinct. Reports of Maverick uprisings in various parts of the world came in, and the leaders of the nations came together to re-form the Maverick Hunter Corps in an effort to keep the damage to a minimum."

"Maverick sightings haven't been reported in Neo Arcadia," Dad said, turning the large display back on. The news report about my butt-kicking party replayed. "Until now, that is. The Maverick Virus had only affected Reploids in the past. However, humans can be convinced one way or the other pretty easily. Reports have only recently started coming in about Maverick attacks and other criminal activities."

"So, wait." I said, hoping to piece things together. "Those guys are Mavericks?"

"Probably not," Mom answered. "But I wouldn't doubt if one or two of them were and they just convinced the others to help them do some stuff they probably would've regretted later."

"So how many Maverick Hunters have been assigned to keep watch over us?" I asked.

"Well...I suppose we could give you a number..." Mom trailed off. I caught what she was saying right away.

"But you'd be lying to me, wouldn't you?"

"She's got your brilliant deduction skills," Dad joked. Mom shot him an unamused look.

"Yes." She turned back to look at me. "There haven't been any Hunters assigned to Neo Arcadia."

"The entire country?" I asked, shocked.

"None. We haven't needed the protection until now. It seems like the reports concerning Mavericks have been slowly on the rise over the past few months, and the Maverick Hunter Corps are stretched pretty thin. They can't assign someone to this area."

"So you guys want me to keep watch over the entire country and its hundreds of thousands of citizens?"

Mom stood up and picked the forgotten helmet up off the desk. "I know it's a lot to ask of you," she said as she walked up to me. "You're only sixteen, and you're just starting your Sophomore year in high school. You haven't taken your black belt test yet and you deserve to live your life the way you want to."

Great. She's trying to guilt trip me.

"I know it looks like we're baiting you into doing this," Dad said. "But your mother's right. It's your decision either way. We won't hold anything against you if you decide not to do this."

"To be honest," Mom. "We were hoping that this wouldn't happen for a few more years. That way, you could have a little stability in your life before making a decision this big. If you do this, your life won't be the same. You'll have a lot more responsibility on your shoulders. Not only will you have to keep up with all of your schoolwork and your classes, but you'll also have to be ready to go at any time in case there's a Maverick attack." She gently handed me the helmet, a stark contrast to the way she took it off.

"What do you say, Iris?" Dad asked. "I'd do it myself, but age doesn't treat Reploids that much better than humans and your mother isn't that big on fighting first hand."

I thought about it for a moment. My covered fingers grazed lightly over the helmet in my hands. It seemed like it was trying to say something to me too. As I turned the helmet, the light bounced off of the green gem on the forehead just right, making it shimmer brilliantly. I took a deep breath, my mind finally made up.

"Well, Iris?" Mom asked me.

"No." I could see Mom and Dad's shoulders slump slightly in disappointment. I turned the helmet around in my hands so that the back faced me.

"When I'm in this armor, my name isn't Iris." I continued. Their faces lit up. I settled the helmet on my head, feeling it readjust to my skull.

"So then," Mom said. "What are we supposed to call you?"

I closed my eyes and took another deep breath as the face mask once again hid my features. A moment later, I opened my eyes and said one simple word:

"Zero."


	5. Episode 2: The Hunt is On!

**WARNING! WARNING!**

**This episode begins the true destruction of Mega Man canon. See if you can find where the trail of debris starts.  
**

**

* * *

THE HUNT IS ON!**

My alarm clock never went off the next morning. I guess it was a good thing. Last night's escapade left me completely drained and in a lot more pain than I had expected. It must have been the adrenaline numbing the pain, because when I eventually managed to drag myself out of bed I was so sore I questioned whether or not I should take an ice bath and go back to bed.

"Iris? Are you awake yet?" Dad asked as he once again rudely poked his head into my room. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Dad. I'm awake. Thanks for knocking, by the way."

"Let's watch the sarcasm, shall we?"

"Sorry, Dad." I moaned, the discomfort of my new bruises setting in. "What time is it, anyway?" I looked at my clock. 11:45 AM. School started almost three-and-a-half hours ago.

Wait! What?

I started panicking. I was so totally late that there wouldn't be any forgiveness from anybody who bothered to notice. Which, by the way, would be everybody.

"I can't believe it's almost noon!" I screamed, running around my room to find my absolutely gaudy school uniform. "Why didn't you or Mom wake me up?"

"We thought you could use the sleep. You were out pretty late last night stopping a crime in progress, after all." I could almost see a smile on Dad's face as he said that.

"But what about school?" I cried. "I'm so history that I might as well not even show my face around there again lest Ibuki get a hold of me!"

"Don't worry about that. Your mother already called the school and got you the day off." Dad said. A brow slightly rose on my forehead.

"Did she really call?" Skepticism dripped from my lips. "Or did she use those 'L337 H4X0R' skills to dig up some dirt on someone there?"

I never saw my mom walk up behind my dad.

"First off, young lady, don't talk that way." She said, slightly upset. "That 'chatspeak' stuff went out decades ago and is embarrassing to anybody who uses a computer. Second, yes. I _did_ call. I just used one of your sick days to get you today off. Besides, we've got somewhere to be today?"

I looked at her confused. "We do?"

Mom nodded. "Yes. Take your time getting dressed. Those bruises aren't going to feel too comfortable in the shower."

She was right. The feeling of water beating against the bruises was brutal. It was probably the quickest shower I've ever taken. I even had to get in a second time because Mom didn't believe that I got cleaned up the first time around. When I finished the second shower, I found that Mom had set out some clothes for me to wear.

Wonderful. My mother, who just happens to be the missing Dr. Ciel Nomura, just in case you missed it, is treating me like a child and picking out my clothes again. Can't say that I disagree with her choices, though. A simple, light blue T-shirt with blue jeans and my favorite sneakers. Better than her trying to dress me like a doll, I suppose.

I took a little more time getting dressed. The bruises weren't hurting as badly as they were when I first woke up, so I figured I was getting used to them. I stepped out of the bathroom, straightening my shirt a bit. At that moment, something inside my head clicked. I had this sudden urge to duck, which I immediately followed up on.

Thank goodness I did.

A heavy 'THUD' came from where my head was just a second before. Looking up, I noticed that a steel pole sat where my head used to be. Following it, I found Dad holding the end with a smirk on his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked incredulously.

"Testing you." He said simply before bringing the pole down on my head. I rolled out of the way and aimed a sweep at his feet. He saw it coming, though, because he quickly brought the pole down to block my leg before it could get to his. He was clearly more used to fighting in tight spaces like these, because I had no idea what to do next. I couldn't roll away, because the hallway was pretty small in every direction, and trying to get away would leave me open. I couldn't attack, because there wasn't enough room to try anything. I'd bump against a wall no matter what I tried.

Dad had me. I dropped my head lightly on the floor to admit it. He smiled.

"Giving up already?" He asked with a hint of amusement. I shot him the most upset look I could muster.

"How am I supposed to do anything? You surprised me and I can't exactly try anything or I'll get hit with that stupid pole."

"Well, there was your first mistake," Dad said as if he were a teacher and I was his student. "You let me surprise you. Like we said last night; you have be ready to act at a moment's notice. Mavericks aren't going to care if you're ready for them or not. They'll just attack whenever they please, and you have to be ready to stop them at any time."

"And what was my second mistake, exactly?"

Dad's smile widened a bit. "Where you are right now. You've got to be ready to fight in any conditions. _I_ would've figured out a way to get out of the situation you're in a long time ago."

"Yeah," I said in an indignant huff as I picked myself up off the ground. "Well, you've had years of practice with this kind of thing. I'm still new at this. I just barely captured my first Maverick last night, for cripes sake!"

Mom took that moment to walk in to the hallway. "Actually, as it turns out, none of those thieves were Mavericks. Just petty criminals who were really only planning on messing with the city's Traffic Control System. It was just supposed to be a harmless joke to them."

"More hacking, Mom?" I asked.

"I am in no position to confirm or deny the illegal access of information classified to anyone who does not have a Level 4 or higher Clearance Pass with the Neo Arcadian National Crime Registry."

"So, in other words, yes." Mom glared at me. Hey, it's not my fault I can read between the lines.

"Now then," She said irritatedly. "If you two are done playing around, then we need to get going. They're expecting us."

"Who's expecting us?" I asked.

"Why, the Maverick Hunter Corps Headquarters, of course." Dad said with a wide smile on his face. "We have to register you as a Maverick Hunter before you can start fighting the good fight."

"Now then, let's go." Mom said. She led the three of us downstairs. Once we were in front of the wall underneath the steps, Mom turned to look at me.

"Open the door." She said simply. My eyes bugged.

"How? I don't remember where the scanner is!"

She smirked a bit. "Remember where the door opened?" I thought about it for a moment, trying to remember where exactly the door was. I stepped in front of the wall where I thought it was last night.

"I think it was somewhere around here..." I said to myself. I looked around, trying to find something that could tell me if I was right or wrong. I could tell Mom and Dad were watching me, though whether or not they were being patient was a different matter. My eyes ran over the wall in front of me dozens of times, but I couldn't find anything out of place.

"Part of being a Maverick Hunter is having the ability to play 'Detective' whenever the situation calls for it." Dad said after a couple of minutes. It wasn't what I was expecting him to say, since I figured he'd have run out of patience by now. "As a Hunter, you have to focus all of your attention to the task at hand. You can't lose sight of your objective." My eyes kept running over the wall. I couldn't find anything!

"Remember that you have five senses, Iris," Mom said this time. It felt like they were both encouraging me, which I liked. Better than being rushed. "You have to use more than one, maybe all of them, in order to complete your task."

Five senses. Right. How's that supposed to help? Let me see...

Sight? I couldn't see anything that would help. Everything blended in too well for me to pick out what I was looking for.

Smell? Nothing was off. There wasn't any sort of scent I could find.

Taste? I don't think so. I'm not about to start licking the walls just to try and find something.

Hearing? The only thing I could hear was my own breathing and...wait...what's that? It sounded like there was something blowing lightly from the other side of the wall. I pressed my ear up against it just to make sure.

Yep, there it was. Not only could I hear it, but I could tell there was a bit of air coming through because it was gently blowing on my ear. That meant that I was near an edge. I placed my finger on the wall where my ear was and took a step back.

"The door's right here," I said to myself again. "Which means that the fingerprint scanner has to be somewhere around here..."I started trailing my finger along the wall to the right. Now was a good time to use my last sense.

All the paint felt the same. It all felt bumpy against my fingertips. I started frowning slightly. Was I on the wrong side? My finger dragged some more. It was pointless. I wasn't getting anywhere here. I had to...wait. What was this? A spot of paint on the wall felt...weirder than the rest. Almost gummier, if I had to put a word to it. I traced along the part of the wall I found, shaping out the scanner I'd been looking for. I smiled as I placed my finger in the middle of the small rectangle I had drawn. A green light pulsed, proving me right.

I turned back to look at Mom and Dad with the biggest smile on my face. "Found it."

Mom and dad were both smiling as well, clearly proud of me. "Very good," Mom said. The secret door slid open, revealing the secret stairs that led to our secret base. Secretly. The three of us made our way down, with me in the lead this time. Once we made it to the bottom, I activated the lights, which I figured out also activated every machine in the room.

Mom made her way to the nearest computer and started typing away. I didn't bother trying to follow what she was doing, since the sound of all the keys being pressed so rapidly was enough to make my head hurt. The large monitor in the room snapped on, revealing a gold insignia with the letters 'MHC' connected together.

"Welcome to the Maverick Hunter Corps Help Line," a mechanical voice said. "How may we be of service to you on this day?"

Dad stepped forward. "Hunter Registration."

"Authorization Code?" The voice said again.

"Zeta-6625-Omega."

"Witness Authorization Code?"

Mom spoke this time. "Charlie-8499-White."

"Authorization Codes accepted. Re-routing Communication Line to Hunter Command."

We waited in silence for a few moments while the line was being transferred. Some nice little music played on the open line. I strummed my fingers along my pant leg in time with the song. Eventually, though, the song was cut off as the insignia faded out to reveal the face of an older man with white-and-black hair and light facial hair.

"Colonel Blaze." Mom said.

"Zero. Ciel." The man said in response. "It's good to see you two again. It's been too long."

"Far too long," Dad said.

"It hasn't been so long that I don't remember what it means when you call. What's this I hear about you wanting to register a new Maverick Hunter?"

"Yep," Mom nodded. "We've got a live one for you. Ready to go whenever you're ready for her."

Colonel Blaze raised an eyebrow. "'Her'? You don't mean..."

"Can we transfer to the base for registration?" Dad interrupted. Colonel Blaze chuckled.

"Of course. I'll open a Trans Server channel for you. Blaze out." The communication line snapped off, showing the Hunter insignia again. Mom typed in a few more commands before the blue square in the corner of the room started pulsing.

"We're connected," Mom said as she stood up. "Let's go."

The three of us all walked up to the Trans Server. Mom stepped through first. Her entire body was covered in a bright white light before she shot up into the air.

Dad pointed to the square, which was now glowing yellow. "See that?" He asked. "It means that there's someone on the line. You can't transfer now, or you'll both be one fused mess when you reach the other side." I pictured what it would be like to fused with Mom or Dad. Nothing I came up with looked pretty. "You have to wait until the color changes blue before trying to transfer."

I nodded and watched as the square turned blue again. Dad stepped on this time. Instead of white, though, he began to glow a brilliant shade of red.

"See you on the other side." He said before shooting off. I watched as the square pulsed yellow for a few seconds before shifting back to blue. My turn.

_I wonder what color I glow when I use this thing,_ I thought to myself as I stepped into the square. A smile formed on my face as I thought about the possibilities. It helped that the awesome tingling sensation took over as I began my transfer to the Maverick Hunter Corps Headquarters.


	6. Episode 2: Part 2

The laser light show came to an end, and I found myself staring up at a blue sky. White clouds drifted along in the air, creating a beautiful sight. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to see so much wonderful stuff all at once.

Oh look! A dinosaur!

No! It wasn't the time to lose my head in the clouds. I'm supposed to be registering so that I could be a proper Maverick Hunter. I looked around in order to get an idea of where I was. It seemed to be a large city. White buildings littered the skyline, while airships flew about left and right. Men and women scurried around everywhere, looking like they all had places to be and were late in getting there. I turned around to see a building that dwarfed the Berkana Industries HQ easily. The massive structure seemed to get progressively narrower as it went up until the top reached a point, resembling a needle.

I shivered for a moment. Needles meant bad memories.

"Iris!" Mom called out after me. I snapped my head down to see her and Dad in front of the evil-shaped building. She was waving at me to hurry up. I ran up to the two of them, a tingling feeling making its way down my spine.

"Uh," I said as I approached them. "Are you sure this is the right place...?" Mom nodded. I looked back up along the building. Needles...

"Iris, don't let the building get to you." Dad said, well aware of how I was feeling.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that were shaking all over my body. "Thanks, Dad." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, helping me settle down. I looked at him with a smile on my face. I don't know how he does it, but every time I think about what happened, Dad somehow manages to help me remember that things could've been worse. I wonder if he did the same thing with Mom whenever they were fighting their war.

I lost myself in my thoughts and absently followed Mom and Dad into the Hunter HQ. We approached the front desk, where an overenthusiastic receptionist greeted us.

"Well, hi y'all!" She said, a huge smile on her face. I didn't quite recognize the accent she spoke with. She didn't really stand out, in my opinion. She had on a white blouse with a white skirt that ended just above her knees. Her otherwise shoulder-length brown hair was parted into two pigtails. Even her name, "Grace" according to her name tag, was rather generic. "How can we help y'all today?"

"We're here to register a candidate as a Maverick Hunter." Mom answered with a sweet smile. "We're here under the recommendation of Colonel Blaze."

Grace gasped, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "Oh! You're the ones!" She scrambled around the desk a bit, looking for something. "The Colonel's expectin' you folks. Oh, where are they...? I know I left those orders around here somewhere..."

Dad noticed a sheet of paper on top of the desk in front of the panicking receptionist. "Is this what you're looking for?" He asked, pointing it out.

"Oh! Why thank ya! Now lessee..." She read the sheet over. "Ah. Y'all're to take that elevator.." She pointed to a nearby elevator. "Up to the 90th floor. The Colonel'll meet y'all there."

"Thanks." Mom said as we walked over to the elevator in question. I pressed the button to call for the lift. As we waited for it, Mom tried to discreetly shake her head to forget who we'd just met. When the doors opened, the three of us quickly entered. Dad pressed the button for the 90th floor. Just as we began our ascension, I turned to Dad and asked him a question.

"About that receptionist...is it okay if the word 'hick' comes to mind?"

Mom and Dad laughed.

The elevator was moving slower than any of us would have liked. The lift was rather large, compared to others I've been in and had windows along the back wall so that we could see outside. I sat down and stared up at the ceiling. Mom watched the windows, admiring the city-scape outside. Dad opted to lean against the corner, cross his arms and close his eyes. I figured he might've been tired.

"He's never been a big fan of elevators." Mom said when she noticed that I was looking at him. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"They're good ambush spots," Dad said, his stance never changing and his eyes remaining closed. "It's also a good way to get someone out of the way and make it look like an accident."

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt anyone's going to try anything here, Dad."

"Never hurts to be cautious."

"We're almost there." Mom said. I looked at the floor display just above the doors. We were only fifteen floors away. My heart started pounding in my chest. I looked down at my legs. My left one bounced up and down a little as anxiety set in. I willed myself to stop moving and closed my eyes.

It's times like these that I'm thankful that I attend a traditional dojo, and not one of those fly-by-night ones.

I slowed my breathing down as I adjusted myself on my bottom. Clearing my mind of my thoughts, I was able to focus solely on my breathing. I could feel my body calming down thanks to the meditation. I must've lost track of where we were, because Mom tapped me on the shoulder when the elevator stopped. I looked up at her, seeing a warm smile on her face. I returned the smile. Dad, who'd moved to my other side, held out his hand to help me up, which I took.

I have the most caring, if not the most battle hardened, parents in the world.

We stepped out of the elevator and into a large, circular room. Television monitors lined the walls, displaying all kinds of information. A large monitor in the center of the opposite room had a map of the world on it. People milled about everywhere, relaying information to and from people from around the world. A singular chair sat in the middle of the room, seating a man that looked familiar.

For a few moments, everybody in the room ignored us. It was like we weren't even there. It kinda bothered me a little. I mean, come on. Three random people just stepped off the elevator and nobody so much as batted an eyelash in our direction. Mom seemed like she was a bit annoyed, too. She must not be used to being ignored, commanding an entire army at one time and all.

The snowcap-haired man from earlier sat in the central chair, sipping what I assumed to be coffee from a cup in his hand. He seemed more interested in what the monitors in the room had to say than the fact that we were here. That was, until...

"Ladies and gentlemen," He said rather suddenly. It caught everyone off guard. "Consider this a little lesson. Three visitors have just entered our fair Command Center and not a single person other than myself noticed."

You noticed, huh? Then why did you wait so long to say anything? I think he was just trying to save face. Everyone in the room, which I gathered to be about thirty or forty people, all turned their heads to look at us awkwardly. I fought off the urge to say something about it, not wanting to come off as a jerk on day one.

Let's save that for another day, shall we?

The man-in-the-chair stood up, coffee cup still in his hand. He had on a large red jacket with green camouflage pants and heavy boots. How this guy wasn't burning up was beyond me. He began a slow walk in our direction.

"What's more," he continued. "We just happen to be in the presence of rather prestigious company. Had these three been a threat, rather than Zero and Dr. Ciel Nomura, we could be in a much worse situation than we are now. Attention, ladies and gentlemen. It's a bill worth paying every once in a while."

I rolled my eyes. I could use some chips here, because this guy's absolutely covered in cheese. The stares from other people got a little more intense. I don't think they believed Mom and Dad were who Snow-cap said they were. Heck, I could still hardly believe it.

Snow-cap got closer and closer, revealing to me just how big this guy really was. He eventually made it to us, a wide smile on his face. I had to look up just to see this guy's jaw.

I hate being short.

"Zero. Ciel. Glad you made it in one piece." He said.

"Colonel Chaud Blaze...what has this world come to?" Dad joked as he held out a hand in greeting. Colonel Blaze took the hand in what looked like a tight grip.

"It's not in that bad of shape." Blaze said, running along with it. "At least we've managed to keep the floor from looking cluttered."

"Maybe," Mom said. "But there's more to keeping a room clean than worrying about just the floor."

"Well, that's why we've got hired help." Colonel Blaze waved a hand around the room. "Speaking of which," He looked down on me, literally. "Is this little lady the one?"

I opened my mouth in an attempt to tell him what I thought of him when Mom cut me off.

"Yes. This is our daughter, Iris."

Colonel Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Daughter? Adopted, I assume?"

"No, jerk." I snapped. "I'm their biological daughter, thanks for asking."

I thought he might get upset. After all, I _did_ just tell off my potential boss before he even hired me. Not a great way to start an interview, kids. Save the wisecracks for when you're actually working for them, and make sure they're impersonal.

Wait...is he...laughing? At me? What am I, a comedian?

Sure enough, Snow-cap...er...Colonel Blaze...took a few moments out of what seemed to be his busy schedule to chuckle.

"She's got your attitude, Zero." He said simply. Dad rolled his eyes.

"That's what I've been screaming." Mom said, throwing her hands in the air.

"Shut up already!" Dad and I cried out, looking at each other when we finished.

More chuckling from came from Colonel Blaze before he turned to the rest of the room. Nobody moved an inch this whole time, watching us like we were some kind of comedy routine.

"I don't believe I relieved any of you of your duties." He said. The room snapped back to life as everyone began to mind their own business. He then waved over a pair of kids, who came running at his signal.

"Iris, meet the twins: Wasodfhsfhsfd and Bob."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Was that supposed to be a joke?

The twins rolled their collective eyes.

"You'll have to forgive the boss." One said. He had short, green spiked hair and light blue eyes. He wore green sweatpants and a white-and-green shirt. His shoes were, in a bit of a twist, blue.

"He's prone to making references to stuff before our time." The other added. He looked like his brother, except that where the first had green, this one had purple and his eyes were red rather than blue. Not like an evil, "Imma deestroi j00" red, but red like rubies. His shoes were also red, rather than blue or purple.

"I'm Middy." The green lover said.

"I'm Techno." The purple one added. "We'll be your field technicians as well as your Operators as long as you're with us."

"I get my own support team?" I asked. The twins nodded. "Cool."

I noticed that the two were staring at me oddly. I raised an eyebrow about it. "Uh, what're you guys staring at?"

They both pointed awkwardly at me and gave me their answer in the stereotypical twin stereo sound: "You're flat."

My left arm shot up to cover my chest while my right commenced to slapping my "team" in the faces. "THANKS FOR POINTING THAT OUT, JERKS!" It's not my fault I'm underdeveloped for my age.

Really.

Nature hates me.

"Well then," Colonel Blaze cut in. "Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get you registered."

He walked back to and sat down in his chair. "Stand over here." He instructed, pointing to a spot in front of his seat. I walked over to where he wanted me to.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Turn around." He answered simply. "I'm not the one who's going to answer the all-important question." Colonel Blaze typed in a few commands on his chair's mini-computer. Turning around, I noticed that the main display in the room displayed the Maverick Hunter insignia.

"Maverick Hunter Registration requested. Please provide proper Authorization Code." An inhuman voice said.

"Charlie-2215-Beta" The Colonel answered.

"Please provide two valid witness codes."

"Zeta-6625-Omega." Dad.

"Charlie-8499-White." Mom.

"Authorization Codes accepted. Beginning subject scan."

A small camera came down from the ceiling and fired off a red lamp. The camera circled me a couple times.

"Data collection in progress. Gender, female. Height, 67 inches. Weight, 94 pounds."

I blanched. Thanks for putting that out there. You wanna give out my blood type while you're at it?

"Blood type, O-Negative."

Thumbs up.

"Name, Iris Sakamoto. Please enter Hunter name to complete registration."

"That's you, Iris." Mom said. "Say your name and you'll be registered with it."

I took a deep breath, and with all the courage I could muster, said the name I _really_ wanted to use.

"Zero."

A small buzzer sounded as the screen in front of me flashed red.

"NOTICE: UNABLE TO COMPLETE REGISTRATION WITH SELECTED OPTION."

I raised an eyebrow. What went wrong? I looked around hoping to find an answer. Instead, I heard snickers coming from all round me. Middy and Techno started laughing their heads off.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You can't use that name." Middy said, continuing to laugh.

"That name's been retired for years " Techno added. "Nobody's allowed to use it. Could you imagine how many people would be running around dragging your dad's name through the dirt if we could?"

My bottom lip slid out from under my top. "But I really wanna use it..." I whined.

"You can't." Middy chided.

"You'll have to come up with something else." Techno said.

I looked back at the Colonel, my pout still in full force. He didn't look like he cared much.

"I really wanna use it..." I almost whispered. Colonel's eyes rolled. He adjusted himself in his seat.

"Maybe we should let the computer randomly pick a name." He said. He did a little more typing. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. It wasn't fair. I wanted to use my hero-slash-dad's name. I didn't want some computer choosing a name that wasn't going to fit me at all. And all Colonel Jerkface over there was doing was sitting in his chair with a smug look on his face.

"Please enter Hunter name to complete registration." The computer voice repeated. I bet Colonel Pants-a-Blaze was sitting there, watching me squirm in agony. He's probably enjoying...

"Zero." He said aloud, earning wide-eyed looks from everyone.

...my suffering?

"NOTICE: UNABLE TO COMPLETE..."

"Override code Alpha-117-Prairie."

"Override accepted. Registration complete."

"Colonel..." Middy said. Techno put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"It's alright, Middy." He said. "Colonel knows best."

"That's right." Colonel Blaze said. I sighed. Middy stepped up to the Colonel, who handed him a watch. Middy then walked up to me and handed it over.

"This watch is very special." He said with a small glint in his eye. "This is a Hunter Morpher. It's programmed to automatically teleport and equip your armor from wherever you've got it stored. It'll keep you from having to run home or to a garage to get suited up whenever you're needed."

"The watch," Techno added. "is programmed to only respond to your vocal pattern and to a very specific command. All you have to do is say 'Hunter Form, Power Up' and the watch'll suit you up right away."

I raised an eyebrow. " 'Hunter Form, Power Up'?" I repeated slowly. "You've got to be kidding me."

Middy smiled. "Nope. You'll also have to press the red button on the watch's face." He pointed to the button in question.

Techno poked Middy in the ear, causing the green twin to jump. "Keep in mind, though, that your watch is the first ever produced and most of the technology used to make it work is still in the theoretical stages."

"So then, what you're saying is that this thing's never been tested before."

Neither twin said a word.

"And, for all anybody knows, this thing could be a dud and I'd be a sitting duck while sounding completely goofy at the same time?"

More silence. Great. A warning siren blared loudly as a red light pulsed in the room. The useless twins ran off to a couple of open computers.

"There's a report of Maverick activity in the Neo Arcadian capital." Middy shouted for all to hear. Not that he needed to.

"It seems to be a single unit. No other Maverick signals are being detected in the area." Techno turned to face me. "Great time to test out the Morpher."

Yeah, great. Let's see if this stupid watch actually works when I might need it. I thought tests were supposed to be done _before_ stuff went out for use.

"Beginning transport." Middy said. Transport? I hadn't even put the stupid watch on yet!

"Wait!" I cried. "Can I get a second to-" The tingling set in again.

No, apparently I couldn't.

* * *

**As a reviewer note, Iris' age is something I plan on going into once I get my Zero series retelling truly underway. Suffice it to say that my plans for the retell are for it to be an "M" rated story.**


	7. Episode 2: Part 3

I felt like I was back home before any of this started. Not a single person really listened to me. Instead, they all chose to do things the way they thought was the easy way: ignore what I have to say and do with me whatever they felt like. I hate the feeling of being ignored, and I hate the feeling of being rushed.

Which is why you can understand, I hope, why I hated _this_ particular ride through the Trans Server. Heck, I didn't even _know_ I was _on_ a Trans Server when I all of a sudden I found myself in the middle of a city street.

At least, that's what I thought it was. Cars were overturned, destroyed, or both just about everywhere. Looking around, I could see holes in the sides of buildings. Some were small; those weren't going to be a major problem financially. Others were rather huge, making me wonder how those buildings weren't falling over.

There was another problem I noticed. Where were all the people? You'd think that if some kind of attack were going on, there'd be at least a handful of people running around, trying to find cover. After all, people in these situations don't act too intelligently. A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals. It's like yelling "Fire!" in a crowded holo-theater.

I walked around a bit, looking at exactly how bad things were. Glass and steel littered the ground, making me glad I was wearing closed-toe shoes. The cars that had extra holes in them were on fire. I hoped that no people were in the cars when they were destroyed, or if there were, that they weren't hurt too badly.

I had totally forgotten that I had my personal phone in my pocket. It's pretty small, so if it's in your jeans in the right spot, it's easy to lose track of it. Because I didn't remember about it, I was taken completely off guard when it began to ring. I fumbled around with my pockets a bit as the ringtone played loudly. I probably should've remembered about it and set it to vibrate, because it was making more noise than the fires that still burned in some of the cars. I didn't recognize the number on the Caller ID, so I answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"_Iris!"_ Techno screamed into my ear, making me yank the phone away in pain.

"Techno? How did you get this number?"

"_I'm an expert hacker, Iris._" I rolled my eyes.

"Figures."

"_Dummy. Your mom gave me the number._ _So, what does it look like?_"

I looked around. "A disaster zone. Buildings around me look like they're missing entire floors from here."

"_That bad?_" Middy said. I guess they shared a line.

"Yeah."

"_Any casualties?_" I could hear Dad ask. There's no way they're on the same phone.

"How are all of you talking to me?" I asked.

"_The Command Center has an open communication relay in the room._" Colonel Blaze explained. How many people planed on putting in their two cents anyway? "_Now answer the question. Are there any casualties?_"

I rolled my eyes again. This guy is one of those, what do they call them? Workaholics?

"I don't see any right off, but I won't know without checking inside the buildings and cars."

"_Leave that for the recovery teams._" The Colonel said. A bit heartless when he needs to be, I guess. I can't say I subscribe to that particular magazine. "_Your orders are to search for the Maverick responsible for the damage and capture him immediately._"

"Right." I replied, not wanting to leave a bad impression on my first hunt. That doesn't mean I didn't like his attitude. I hated it. Problem was that I think I used my sarcasm freebie when he questioned whether or not I was adopted.

"_Do you see any signs of the Maverick?_" Blaze asked.

I looked around. "No. Other than all the damage, there's no sign that there was ever a Maverick here."

Before I knew it, I was proven wrong. Green electric arrows landed all around me, setting off explosions and knocking me to the ground. More arrows headed directly at me. Realizing I didn't have enough time to get up, I rolled out of the path of the arrows. They landed on the ground, creating a trail of blasts behind me.

"Okay," I said to myself. "So the Maverick _is _here."

"Yes, indeed!" A high pitched voice called out. I slowly stood up, looking around for the source of the voice. "Oh, dear sweet child...no matter how hard you look you'll never find me."

"Wanna bet?" I said, still scanning the area. Another heavy blast went off behind me, sending me to my knees. Okay, so whoever this was had a point. I wasn't going to find whoever it was without some kind of defense. I'd better test this stupid watch and...

Wait...

Where is it?

I dropped it! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't be bothered to put it on when I first got here and now I'm regretting letting that fact slip my mind. I even lost my phone! Great way to start your first Hunt, Iris.

I dove into the nearest, non-burning car and tried looking around for my stuff, but stuff as small as a watch and a personal phone can be hard to find when you're in a panic. Especially when they blend into the street. I should've made my phone more noticeable, that way I'd be able to...

Oh. There they are. They sat on some glass a few yards away, making them easy to notice against the reflection of light against the glass.

"Okay," I said to myself. "I'm gonna need that stuff if I'm going to get out of here alive." More arrows landed around the car, serving as warning shots. "I'm doomed."

I slid over to the nearest door, eyes glued on my targets. I had to time this just right, otherwise I really _was _doomed. If I didn't make my move at the right moment, I could be destroyed before I even get a chance to grab my stuff.

That was when I noticed something. Arrows would come three or four at a time, but there were a couple of seconds between volleys. Did that mean whoever was shooting was trying to find me? Or were they only able to shoot so many at a time? More explosions went off around me, giving me an opportunity to time the shots.

_BOOM!_

1...2...3...4...5.

_BOOM!_

Five seconds. That's all I get? Great. That means I'd either have to haul as soon as I could, or I would just have to sit here until this threat passes. Fat chance of that happening. Just have to wait for the right time...

_BOOM!_

I kicked open the door to the car and ran as fast and as hard as I could. More arrows rained down around me, sending heat, sparks, metal and glass flying in every direction. I had to cover my head with my arms to try and keep debris from hitting me in the head. The run was only a few yards, but even a short sprint seems like a marathon when you're being shot at by an unknown assailant.

I got closer and closer with each step. I could only hope that the shots didn't hit either my phone or the watch, or else I was in serious trouble. Once I thought I was close enough, I dove for the items and reached out as far as I could. Time seemed to crawl as I flew forward, another arrow landing off to my side. I jumped a little soon, as it turned out, as I hit my stomach with my fingertips just brushing the phone. I crawled forward a bit, feeling a touch awkward as I grasped my treasures.

"Ahahaha! So the little girly's got her precious jewelry back!" The high-pitched voice screamed out. Great. Mock me when you can see me.

"You're in serious trouble, whoever you are!" I screamed back, whipping my head around to try and find this jerk. No matter where I looked, though, I couldn't find the source of the voice. I slowly slid my phone into my pocket and slipped the watch over my left wrist. "Once I find you, you're done!"

"Oh? How can you hope to stop me if you're only human? You can't even find me!" The voice started cackling. Another arrow came down, closing in on me. I jumped off to the side, causing the arrow to barely miss me.

"That does it! I'm tired of your stupid arrows!" I shouted as I raised my wrist. With a sly smile on my face, I pressed a finger onto the red button on the watch.

...Nothing happened.

I looked at it in confusion. Why didn't it work? Did those twins give me a dud? I jammed my finger down on the button over and over, trying desperately to get it to work.

"Well, well!" The jerk started up again. "It looks like the little girl isn't quite as smooth as she thinks she is!"

"Oh shut up already!" The arrow-rain started up again, surrounding me in flames. I started running down the street and dove behind a car. Hopefully, wherever this person was shooting from couldn't reach me here. I looked down at my wrist again. "Why aren't you working? You're supposed to help me out here!"

My phone started ringing again. I yanked it from my pocket and answered in frustration.

"What?"

"_How're things going ?_" Middy asked, apparently unfazed by my snappy answer.

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically. "Except for the part where your stupid watch isn't working!"

"_Are you pressing the red button?_"

"Yes! It's not doing anything!"

"_Are you saying the security phrase?_" Techno asked.

"...No." I answer honestly. I could almost _hear_ the twins roll their eyes.

"_Then that's the problem! You have to say the security phrase or else it won't work!_" I'm starting to hate the twins.

"I'm going to sound completely stupid!" I whined. An arrow flew past me, landing a few feet away.

"_Better to sound stupid than look dead._" Middy said.

"Fine. But I still hate it." I said, hanging up. I stood up, hoping to try and find this person before I tried to use the watch again..

"No matter how hard you look, girly, you'll never find me!" The voice laughed. I smirked, even though I was about to sound like a complete moron.

"You won't be able to hide for long, jerk." I said as I lifted my wrist again. This time, I prayed it was going to work. I took a deep breath, jammed the button on the watch and shouted at the top of my lungs, just to make sure it heard me.

"HUNTER FORM! POWER UP!"

An electrical feeling surged through my body, forcing me to stiffen up and widen my eyes. My body felt like it was on fire while something extremely cold poured itself over me. It was like I was being, what was it called? 'Microwaved' in reverse. The cold substance solidified over me, taking the shape of the armor I was wearing the night before. The black and purple shades covered my clothes. Coldness washed over my skull and hardened itself into the helmet that I fumbled with so much. The mask covered my features again, completing the process.

The hotcold feeling I had the entire time eventually faded. I looked at myself, just to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. Sunlight gleamed off of my covered arms. I couldn't believe it.

"It worked!" I cried out happily. A smile shaped on my face, though anybody looking at me wouldn't have been able to see it. "I cannot, for the life of me, believe that stupid little watch worked!"

Another arrow volley surrounded me in fire. Okay, celebration over. I rolled out of the flames, thankful that I didn't have to worry about being burned. I looked around again. Why did I think being in armor would help me? It didn't help my vision, and I didn't have any sort of scanners or anything. Optimism fails me yet again.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" I called out, hoping that old cliché would work. When does anything like that work out, anyway?

"As you wish, child." The voice responded. Holy Caf-Pow, it worked! A weird, crackling sound filled the air. Tracing the sound, I followed it to a nearby, half-destroyed building. The wall started warping weirdly, electric sparks dancing off of a specific part. A moment later, the warping and crackling stopped as a large yellow Reploid became visible. It looked similar to an armadillo, with spikes shooting out from its back. The tail ended in a flat surface and, like the back, had spikes protruding at the end, while a huge horn sat where its nose would be. The right arm didn't have a hand on it. Instead, something like an arm cannon replaced it, lines of green energy running along the cannon.

"Geez," I said, my face twisting. "Stay away from fun houses. I don't think they'd be able to afford the damages."

"Foolish child," The armadillo screeched. "I am Amarillo Archon, a messenger spreading the word of the future."

"'Word of the future'? What are you, some kind of religious nutcase?" I brought a finger up to my chin in thought. "Also, what are you? Male or female?"

"Female, you insolent brat!" She, I guess, screamed as she fired electric arrows from her arm cannon. I used my arm to deflect the shots, forcing them to land relatively harmlessly behind me. Turned out to be a mistake, because my forearm burned intensely from the heat.

"Well," I said as I cringed, clutching my blocking arm. "I guess I won't be doing _that_ anymore." I grabbed one of the swords on my back, drawing it in a flash. "Now it's my turn!" I dashed in to attack.

Or, at least, I tried to.

I lunged forward, only to find that my left leg wouldn't budge.

"Oh no," I said to myself. "Not now!" I kept trying to run, but my leg wouldn't have it. I couldn't move it unless I dragged it.

"Ahahahaha!" That stupid overgrown armadillo laughed. "It would seem that my attacks have had more of an affect than even I thought!"

"Don't hold your breath, you walking speed bump!" I sneered. There wasn't a way around it. I couldn't get my leg to move at all. I needed to get somewhere relatively safe while I convince it that acting when I tell it to is best for both of us. I looked around, found another mostly together car and started dragging myself toward it.

Now, dragging a limb that's virtually useless and is necessary for proper movement and maneuverability isn't all that easy. It doesn't help when you've got an oversized rat cackling away while firing deadly electric arrows at you. Whether by virtue of good luck, bad aim, Archon toying with me or all of the above, I managed to get to the car and hide behind it. If you can call keeping out of sight when your enemy knows exactly where you are hiding.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Archon shrieked, mocking me mocking her while I sheathed my sword. "You've got nowhere to hide!"

I squeezed and shook my leg, willing it to move. "Come on, come on! Don't do this to me!" I tried to move my toes inside my boot, but they weren't willing to listen to me. They weren't getting the signals my brain was trying to send them. Arrows flew by me, reminding me of how close this Maverick was. More shaking wasn't convincing my toes to do anything.

"Time do say 'bye bye', girly! Such a promising young girl, too!" I could hear an electric hum fill the air. I couldn't see what was happening, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was charging up for one more shot and that I didn't want to be in the path of that shot.

"Come, ON!" I slammed my fist on my leg. Suddenly, I could flex the toes in my foot. Yes! Just in time, too.

"BE GONE!" Archon shouted, firing her charged cannon. I managed to dive out of the way of the attack just as it hit the car, destroying it completely. The explosion washed a wave of heat over me as I rolled away. I rolled into a crouch, drawing my sword at the same time.

"As I was saying, my turn!" I shouted, darting forward. This time, my leg cooperated and moved, letting me get in close. I brought my sword around, slashing Archon in the chest a few times. Sparks flew with each strike, leaving small cuts in her armor. As big and intimidating as she was, Archon wasn't quite as big of a threat in close. She tried to swipe at me with her clawed left hand and missed badly. Her lumbering swipes made it easy for me to roll around her and catch her in the back with a few swipes.

"Insolent little wretch! I'll destroy you!" She screamed in a rage as she spun around. Her tail swung around me, allowing her spiked tail to scrape against my back and draw sparks from the impact. The hit threw me off and gave Archon the chance she needed to slash her claws over my chest and send me spinning.

I rolled through with the hit and drew my other sword. Pain shot through my chest, arm and back, but I couldn't exactly let that stop me. I ran up to her again, this time swinging both of my swords across her front. More sparks flew with each impact. She tried to swing her tail at me again, but I wasn't about to let that happen. I jammed one of my swords through her tail before it could move anywhere, nailing it to the ground. Archon screamed in pain as sparks spewed from her tail. I used my free sword to slash her a few more times before a beeping sound took over my hearing.

_Where's that coming from?_ I thought to myself. Before I knew it, my hand went up to my helmet and clicked a small button on the side.

"_Iris! Can you hear me?_"

My eyes widened in surprise. I rolled behind Archon to make sure she couldn't reach me. "Mom?"

"_Oh good. You still have your phone on you._"

"What does my phone have to do with this?"

"_It's how we make contact with you while you're in the field. Anyway, you're going to need to finish this up before you take too much damage. Your suit can only take so much punishment._"

I raised an eyebrow as Archon flailed around, trying to get a hold of me. "How do I do that?"

"_You can bring your Z-Blades together to form the Z-Saber._"

Z-Blades? Is that what they're called? And I can use the Z-Saber?

"How do I do _that_?"

I could almost hear the amusement in Mom's voice. "_You'll have to figure that one out on your own._"

I smiled. Sure, let's make it fun. I pulled the Z-Blade that I jammed into Archon's tail out, freeing the armed armadillo from her pinning predicament. I leaped a short distance away just as Archon turned and fired electrified arrows at me. I rolled out of the way so that the arrows didn't make contact with me, but a building a few yards behind me wasn't quite so lucky.

"Time to end this!" I said, serving as a warning to Archon. I wasn't sure how, but it felt like I knew what I was doing without ever having done this before. I flipped the swords around in my hand so that they were facing the right way. "Z-Blades, combine!" I slammed the swords together so that their backs met. I heard a locking mechanism click into place, combining the two hilts into one. The blades melted together and doubled in size.

My eyes widened slightly as the Z-Saber formed in my hands. Archon's eyes grew as well, though not quite in as much amusement as me.

"Who are you?" She asked. I could only smile.

"Zero. Nice to meet you." The blade began to glow brightly as energy flowed into it. My smile grew as I felt the power behind the weapon build.

"Z-Saber!" I shouted. "Final Strike! JUDGEMENT SLASH!" I swung the blade a couple more times as arcs of energy flew toward Archon. The arcs collided with her, creating large blasts upon impact and leaving huge holes in her armor. Streams of electricity flew from her body.

"Our...Lord...shall...rise..." Archon shouted as she collapsed. I turned around and let my arm holding my sword come down to my side. Archon made contact with the ground and, a moment later, exploded in a gigantic fireball. I smiled as I slowly walked away, knowing my job was complete. The beeping started up again, and I mindlessly pressed the button on my helmet again.

"Hello?"

"_Great job, Zero._" Colonel Snow-Cap said over the line. My smile grew larger knowing that I at least got some acknowledgment from the workaholic. "_Return to the point you arrived at and we'll return you to the base._" He ended the call, proving he was slightly impatient. I rolled my eyes, but kept my smile. Nobody was taking that away from me.

The walk back wasn't too long or too hard. A glowing blue 'X' showed me where I needed to be. As I stepped onto the return point, my smile faded as realization set in. I pieced together what had happened as the usually-distracting tingling took over.

Explosion? Fireball?

Uh-oh. I think I destroyed her.

* * *

**There's a TV show reference in here. See if you can find it.**

**Answer to the Chapter 2 reference in the next chapter.  
**


	8. Episode 2: Final

I returned to the Maverick Hunter HQ with my frown still on my face, but as I took the ride back, a hint of worry made its way onto my features. My mission was to capture the Maverick in Neo Arcadia's capital city, wasn't it? I don't think Snow-Cap ever told me what I was supposed to do, exactly. They just kinda whisked me off to face Amarillo Archon, as it turned out to be, without so much as telling me how much force I was allowed to use.

Making things much more fun was the fact that my leg decided that the start of the fight, of all times, was a prime time to fail on me and nearly get me ghosted. _That_ could be looked at later, though. Right now, I had to get myself ready for a potential yelling fit from Snow-Cap, Mom and Dad about holding back on my missions.

Like I knew what I was doing, anyway. My body just kinda acted on its own. It was pretty cool to fight a Maverick for the first time, but I don't know how I did anything in that fight. I'd only fought with swords once the night before and I'd never done _anything_ like what I did. It was weird.

"Care to join us back on Earth, Zero?" Colonel Snow-Cap said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Or would you like more time to store your head in the clouds?"

Jerk through-and-through, it would seem. Colonel Blaze lifted a brow.

"A 'jerk through-and-through', am I?" He asked. Aw, nuts.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"No." He answered before sipping his drink. "I just happen to be psychic."

Nuts. I've got to learn when my thoughts make it to my mouth. Mom stepped forward, a concerned look on her face.

"Is something wrong, Iris?" She asked. I brought my hands up to my helmet, tracing my thumbs along the jawline. Once I found the release buttons, I pressed them and lifted the helmet from my head. Bringing it down to my side, I frowned again as the question made me think about the fight again.

"My leg went numb." I said. Mom snapped her head toward Dad, who also came up to me in a concerned manner.

"How long did it go out?" He asked. The frown on his face matched mine. Neither of us, nor Mom, were anywhere near thrilled with that fact.

"A few seconds. I had to hit it to get it to start moving again." Mom and Dad exchanged worried expressions.

"Are you alright?" Dad asked. His eyes moved between my own and my leg.

"I'm fine. It's fine, now."

I don't think Mom and Dad bought what I was selling, but they seemed fine with my answer for now. They backed up a little, still eying me worriedly.

"This leg issue isn't going to be a liability in the field, is it?" Colonel Blaze asked as he took another sip of his drink.

I glared at him. Thanks for the sympathy, jerk. "No. It'll be fine."

"Good, because I would hate to force you to retire early because of what was written off as a minor issue."

I bet. I looked around a bit in thought again. Even though she _did_ try to blow me to pieces, I _did_ feel sorry for Archon. I did kinda heartlessly destroy her in the middle of the street.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Middy asked, noting my expression.

"That Maverick," I said. "I think I went a step too far by destroying her."

Middy and Techno looked between themselves before snickering. I looked at them incredulously just as they began a full-on laughing fit. Why were they so happy about it? Didn't they care that I destroyed someone?

"I wouldn't worry about that." Middy said between chuckles before walking up to me too. Techno followed, throwing his arms around his brother's neck.

"Yeah, you didn't destroy that Maverick." He said, pressing his cheek into his brother's. It started to bother me how close these two were, literally speaking.

"What do you mean? That big explosion in the middle of the street says otherwise."

"Well," Techno said, dragging a finger along his brother's jawline. "The attack you used to take that Maverick down was a very powerful strike. One that required a huge amount of energy."

Middy shook his brother off of his shoulders. "The attack took up so much energy that the Maverick didn't take the whole hit. The explosion that resulted from the Maverick hitting the ground was just the residual energy making contact with the ground. The Maverick is just fine." He went back to his computer and typed in a few commands. The main monitor snapped to a camera showing Maverick I thought I destroyed. "We'll pick it up in a few minutes."

I frowned. "She's not an 'it'. Her name is...uh..." I thought for a moment as puzzled looks were aimed in my direction. "Oh yeah! Archon. Amarillo Archon."

Colonel Blaze chuckled a bit. "Rookie mistake." I turned around to face him. "You think they're still people. Once they're infected with the Maverick Virus, they're no longer who they once were."

My furrowed brows deepened a bit. "What are you talking about? They're still people."

"No, they're not. The Maverick Virus changes a Reploid permanently. Their systems can't be restored. They lose the memories they once had and become blinded by pure rage."

"We searched the name of the Maverick you battled against." Techno said. "Amarillo Archon was designed to be a research subject in portable electricity generation. Her systems allowed her to not only constantly generate electricity within her by using an internal water generator, but to also use the large protrusions on her body to act as lightning rods in the event of her internal generator failing. Plans were for Archon to be used as an emergency power plant. That is..." He trailed off.

"...before she went Maverick." I finished. Techno nodded.

"And there isn't any way this Maverick Virus can't be removed or deleted?"

"There was," Dad said with a pitiful look on his face. I couldn't understand why, though. "but like natural life, the Virus has adapted itself into a program that can't be deleted with even the most advanced technologies."

"So what happens to her now?"

"She'll be taken into custody." Colonel Blaze answered, sipping his drink. I'm starting to hate his attitude toward this whole thing. "Her internal systems will be disabled to prevent her from becoming a danger to anyone and she'll be held until our CIC figures out what to do with her."

I raised a puzzled eyebrow. "CIC?"

"Commander-in-Chief." Middy said. "If you ever have the opportunity to meet her in person, pass on that."

"You'll regret it if you don't." Techno added. I rolled my eyes. Whoever this 'CIC' was, she couldn't be nearly as bad as they were making her seem. Then again, I didn't think Snow-Cap was that bad when I saw him on the monitor at home and I was being proven wrong about that.

"Now then," Colonel Blaze started. "You've had a taste of what it's like to be a Maverick Hunter. Your missions won't always be that easy. You'll often be outnumbered in the field, and you'll be expected to complete your missions against such odds. Your life will be at constant risk, and you may be required to destroy your targets." He smiled slightly. "Think you can handle it?"

I scowled. So you're going to underestimate me, huh? I'm constantly having to watch my back for my psycho-ninja best friend to make sure she doesn't put me in a hospital just because she's bored.

And she'd do that too. She told me she would if she got bored enough.

"That depends." I said as my confidence started to grow. "Can you smile when you're not saying something jerk-ish?"

He chuckled a bit. "She's definitely your daughter, Zero." Dad rolled his eyes. I think he hates it when people compare my attitude with him. I kinda see where people are coming from when they say that. We both tend to make smarter remarks than the situation may call for. Blaze stood up and walked over to where I was standing, smiling as he took his steps. I thought he was going to hold his hand out as an offering and a welcome into the Maverick Hunter ranks. Instead, he held out his hand and did the one thing I hate the most in the world.

He patted me on the head.

I fumed, my fists shaking in anger as he stroked my hair. He was getting _way_ into my personal bubble and I didn't even like the guy.

"You'll make a fine Maverick Hunter, Iris." He said. I guess he could tell I wasn't a big fan of the way he was making contact with me. Someone behind me grabbed my left wrist and started yanking me out of the room.

"Come on!" Said person...well...said as I stumbled forward. "I'll show you where the dorm rooms are!"

I could only guess by the green blur in front of me that Middy was the one who was dragging me out of the Command Center and down the hallway.

"Slow down!" I cried. "I'm still wearing my armor!"

"Oh please! It's not slowing or weighing you down that badly!"

Maybe not, but it _does_ make trying to regain your balance while stumbling around a little more difficult than normal. As proven by the wall I ended up face-planting into because of the aforementioned balance issue.

* * *

Ciel, Zero and Blaze watched as the younger of the two twin technicians dragged Iris out of the Command Center.

"Is it okay for me to be worried right about now?" Zero asked, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head in nervousness. Ciel brought a gloved hand up to her mouth and bit down on the tip of her thumb.

"She'll be fine." Blaze answered as he walked back to his chair. "Middy's not going to try anything on your daughter."

"It's not her I'm worried about."

Ciel released her thumb's tip and raised a finger. "I'm going to go after them. Iris could break him if either of them isn't careful." With that, she quickly walked out of the Command Center in pursuit of Iris and Middy.

* * *

It was a longer trip than I figured it might've been. The building didn't seem this wide when I saw it outside, but then again, I _was_ concentrating more on the syringe-feeling I got from it. Middy dragged me past several doors before stopping in front of a blue one. It seemed odd that the door was blue, considering every other door I'd seen since I stepped foot into this building was a bright white, just like the rest of the place.

"Well, we're here!" Middy exclaimed, much too excited for the situation at hand. Calm down, Greenie. You're showing me where I'm supposed to stay, not trying to act like you're not going to throw me a 'Welcome Iris!' party and then try to surprise me with said party when I walk through the door.

Wait, these are dorm rooms, right?

"Am I going to have to live here?" I asked. I think Middy picked up on the slight hint of worry in my voice, because he smiled, rolled his eyes, shook his head and chuckled all at the same time.

That doesn't make a person feel self-conscious. Not at all.

"No, not really." He said as he thumbed the door release. "Staying in the dorms is completely optional. We offer the Maverick Hunters a place to stay in case they have a mission that lasts longer than they thought, or if they just need a break from daily life."

The door opened, revealing a rather plain room. It was pretty large, actually. Not quite the size of the Command Center, but it was certainly big enough to easily house six people. I only got the idea that six people were intended to stay there because there were six bunk beds in the room that look like they were built into the far wall. Just looking at them, they looked pretty comfy, actually. A small kitchen area sat to the right of the bunks. I doubted there was any food in there right now, but that didn't mean I couldn't stock up later. White chairs circled a glass coffee table in the center of the room, while the wall opposite the kitchen displayed the largest entertainment center I've ever seen. My eyes went a little wide at the sight.

"So, what do you think?" Middy asked, beaming. He looked kinda cute, actually. But something confused me.

"I like it. But why do you look like that?"

"I furnished everything. All this came out of my pocket, and I'm proud of the way it looks."

"Ah." I nodded. Why would Middy pay for furniture in an empty room? I'd ask him later.

"So then, any questions?"

I nodded again. "A couple. First, how do I take my armor off? Mom and Dad had to help me pull everything off last night." Middy chuckleshooksmilerolled again. He grabbed my left wrist and held it up.

"Just press the red button on your wrist." He said, pointing out a small red button that looked like the one on the watch that put my armor on me in the first place. I hadn't noticed it at first, because it blended in with the red accent lines that ran along the armor. I pressed it and went temporarily blind. The button caused my armor to glow a bright white before disappearing completely a second later. When my sight returned, I saw that I was back in the clothes I had on before.

"That's cool." I said. "But wouldn't that be a problem on a mission?"

"Not really." Middy said. "The button only works when you press it intentionally. If you press it accidentally, or if your wrist hits or is hit by anything, the button won't do anything. I'd explain how it works to you, but it's a bit complicated and we need to finish this episode up."

I raised an eyebrow. What did he mean by 'episode'?

"Okay..." I'll just let it go for now. "Second question: How did I know how to do everything I did out there?"

"I can answer that." A voice said from behind us. We both turned to see Mom standing in the doorway. "The helmet has a situational analysis system programmed into it. It scans all the factors in the area around you and comes up with what is the most plausible response. It then sends a small electric charge into your skull. It's not large enough for you to feel it or for it to negatively affect you, but it's large enough to send a signal to your brain. Your brain interprets those charges and sends signals to the rest of your body. Your body responds to those signals, and before you know it, you're kicking all kinds of butt."

My face fell a bit. I hoped it was some kind of natural reaction, but it turned out to be just some form of mind control. Mom saw my face and smiled.

"Don't worry, Iris. Your helmet is also programmed to grow and evolve along with you. It learns about you just as it learns about whatever problem you're facing. It'll eventually send fewer and fewer signals until you're doing everything on your own." I smiled a bit. So I won't have to depend on it forever. That's good.

"So," Middy said. "You going to stay here for a while?"

I thought about it for a moment. I didn't want to insult Middy by going home after he's shown me his investment. But at the same time, I _do_ have to go to school tomorrow. I mentally tossed a coin to figure out what I was going to do. It landed heads. Let's see, heads was...

"I'll stay for the night, I suppose."

Middy's smile grew. Mom brought a hand to her cheek.

"I'll bring you a change of clothes and your school uniform from home. You'll be alright staying here by yourself, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks." Mom nodded before walking out. Middy followed her soon after, almost skipping out of the room. Once the door closed, I looked around a bit at the room that was now mine.

_So now I'm a full fledged Maverick Hunter,_ I thought. _I've got awesome parents, a sweet suit of armor, and an incredible room to myself._

I smiled. My life was changing for what I thought was the cooler.

* * *

**Amarillo Archon's design was based off of a character from one of my favorite SNES fighting games. Care to figure it out?**

**Chapter 2's reference was a nod to the Home Alone movies.**

**Chapter 3's reference to be revealed next chapter.  
**


	9. Episode 3: New Kid On The Block

**NEW KID ON THE BLOCK  
**

Early the next morning, I sat on the edge of the bed I commandeered as my own. Mom brought me the clothes she'd promised she would. I frowned as I stared down at my left leg.

It went out on me yesterday. It went out sooner than I was told. That needed to be taken care of. I was told two months ago that my leg would be fine for at least a year before I would run into any problems. I even told my doctors that I was an active girl. They reassured me that my leg would still be fine for a year.

Yesterday proved them wrong. Then again, nobody took into account the idea that I would take up Maverick Hunting. That's going to put a lot more stress on my leg than being a teenage girl or karate training would have on their own.

I sighed deeply. Mom also brought me a small box from home. I slid it under my pillow the night before so that I wouldn't forget about it. Not that I'd forget about getting rid of my problem. I pulled it out and opened it, revealing a small screwdriver and a contact lance, for resetting computer circuitry. I rolled up the pajama leg covering my left leg as high as it would go, which was nearly up to my waist. Good, because I needed to see as much as I possibly could.

I tapped my finger on a spot near the middle of my thigh. I thin blue box flashed momentarily before the outer flesh hissed. The skin slid away, revealing a small panel just underneath where my skin used to be. I entered the code my leg required before it would allow any maintenance into the panel. It flashed for a moment before it too slid away and let me look at the machinery that comprised my leg.

I thumbed a small red switch, which shut down the sensory reception system in the leg. I didn't want to feel whatever I needed to do, since it was going to hurt badly. Reworking computer circuits doesn't seem like it would hurt when you're doing it to something that isn't alive. The problem is, though, that if you do it to someone and mess something up, you could end up causing a lot of pain. I didn't want to feel it when I did. The last time I tried DIY maintenance, I ended up crossing the wrong wires and caused the biggest mechanized cramp I've ever experienced.

I got a good look at the stuff that made up my leg. None of the hardware seemed to be the problem. Nothing was burned out, destroyed or otherwise out of place, visually. I carefully pushed some of the hard way to the side. The next thing to check was the machinery that let me move everything.

Oh, great. Some of the hydraulic lines were ruptured. Liquid nitrogen covered a lot of the other moving parts, freezing them up. I rolled my eyes. That _would_ be the cause of my problems. Just where the blue heck am I supposed to go to get my leg taken care of? There was no way I could fix these things on my own. I'd just have to put up with my leg freezing up on me, for lack of a better phrase, until I could see my doctors or a mechanic about it.

Just as I brought my hand up to my face to demonstrate how I felt about my situation, a knock came from the door.

"Hey!" A muffled voice came from the outside. "You awake in there, Iris?" My eyes widened. Middy! He can't see what I'm doing! Before I had the chance to cover everything up, though, Middy barged through the door, demonstrating just how much he respected both the ideas that I _might_ have been asleep and may have wanted some privacy. My eyes widened even more as he walked in.

"Morning, Iris! I thought I'd come wa-" He stopped mid sentence once he saw my leg. The smile he had on when he walked in vanished almost instantly. My face turned burned intensely as I felt my face race into a deep red shade. Now all that needs to happen is for Middy to either start asking inane questions that I wouldn't even know how to answer, or for him to start running down the hallway screaming bloody murder in total fear over what...

Wait. Did he just sigh?

His eyes fell to the floor and his shoulders dropped. Okay...that wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting.

"I'm sorry..." He said solemnly. Now I was starting to get a bit worried. "I didn't know..."

I sighed myself. "Don't worry about it. I don't tell a whole lot of people about it." He probably thinks I'm a freak or something. He's probably just feigning pity over not knowing that I had machinery in me. It's not like it's his business or anything. For all I know, he's probably sorry that he didn't think I was a Reploid or something.

"I didn't know you were a hybrid."

If my eyes could have widened any further, they would have. How did he know what I was?

"What make you think I'm a hybrid?"

Middy rolled his eyes. "Your mother's a human. A Reploid and a human can't give birth to a Reploid, now can they?"

Oh. Yeah.

He slowly walked up to me. I could tell he was trying not to stare at it, because his eyes constantly shifted from my leg to things that wouldn't even be _remotely_ interesting by comparison. I rolled my eyes.

"It's okay to look. It won't bother me." Now that you've seen it already. Middy sat down on the bed next to me.

"I'm sorry about the way I'm acting," he said, still in a bit of shock. "I just didn't expect to see someone with replacements. These are supposed to still be in the testing phase. People aren't supposed to have these for another few years."

I smiled a bit. "I guess that's the kind of influence my parents have." He looked me in the eyes. There was an odd moment there, where neither of us spoke. It kinda felt like we connected somehow. I looked deeply into his blue eyes and noted what looked like a small light quickly cross his pupil. Another small light ran across right afterward. I knew what that meant.

"You're a Reploid?" I asked, probably a little more intensely than I wanted. He nodded, confirming my suspicion. He then looked back down at my leg.

"Do you mind if I..." he trailed off. I knew what he wanted. I nodded my own head, then watched as he knelt down and gingerly placed his hands on my thigh. He gently pressed his fingers down to feel how much of me wasn't really me. At least, I'm sure he was gentle about it. My sensory receptors were still off, so I couldn't feel what he was doing. He slid his fingers down my leg, pressing the whole way through. His eyes went wider as he continued, and I thought he mouthed something to himself. He eventually reached my foot and squeezed around. Once he was done, he looked up at me with another sympathetic look.

"Your whole leg?"

I nodded. "From waist to toe." I saw him give my hip a quick look. "Don't even think about it."

He chuckled a bit. Better than looking at me like a sad puppy. He saw the exposed section of my thigh.

"Your hydraulics are shot." He said.

"Yeah," I answered. "This leg wasn't made to hold up to half the stuff I do. I put a lot of stress on my leg with my daily life. Now that I'm a Maverick Hunter, these things aren't going to last me any real amount of time."

Middy looked puzzled. "Why not?"

"Well, this isn't suited for athletic use. It's supposed to be used for everyday life. I'd get one that's designed for the extra strain of physical activities, but they're extremely expensive and hard to come by, especially since they're still experimental, just like these regular ones. Mom and Dad did a lot for me just getting one of these regular use legs. I'm not going to ask them to get me something so expensive."

"Well, that's just not going to cut it." Middy said before grabbing the lance from the box on my bed. He started working on sealing the nitrogen lines that were ruptured. "We're going to need to commission one of those specialized legs for you."

My eyes went wide. "You don't have to do that for me, you know."

Middy shook his head. "Nonsense. I'm one of your technicians. I have to make sure that the Maverick Hunter that I'm assigned to work with has the best equipment at all times. That means that if you need a better leg, then I'm going to get you one." He finished working on the lines. "All done. You can close up now."

I looked at his handiwork. It looked almost new. I couldn't believe he was able to do that. Then again, he _was _a Reploid. A smile grew on my face as I looked up to him. "Thanks."

"No problem. Now you need to get ready for school. Your mom said that she wasn't going to buy you another day off."

I knew _that._ I thumbed my sensory receptors back on and flexed my whole leg. Everything felt fine. No freezing up, no unusual spasms, no hardcore cramps. I admit, he's good. Even my toes, which I cramped up the last time I tried to work on myself, were just fine. I pressed a small button hidden near my knee, which closed the exposed section and sealed it. Looking at it, you wouldn't be able to tell that the leg wasn't naturally mine.

"Thanks again, Middy." I said as I pulled my pajama leg down.

Middy nodded. "What happened? If it's not too much to ask."

My mood changed. I didn't want to think about it. I stood up rather rudely, which caught Middy by surprise. "I've got to get ready for school." I didn't wait for a response. I stormed into the restroom (which I had to find by myself, thanks a lot Middy) and turned on the shower. Images popped up in my head as I prepared to clean up. Hopefully the heat would be enough to wash away the memories.

Bad memories.

Fifteen minutes later, I came out of the restroom trying to hold back the stomach acid that threatened to shoot its way up my throat. It wasn't the fact that Middy brought back something I didn't want to remember. No, it was the fact that Mom had to bring be everything I needed for school.

Everything. Including that God-awful, horridly colored uniform. I look like a mix between a mustard and a ketchup bottle, and it makes my normally good looking hair look like the stuff that dries up when you leave the mustard out too long. Middy was still in the room when I stepped out, He got one good look at my uniform and gagged.

"Who's bright idea was it to make you wear that?" He asked as forcibly swallowed some bile.

"I don't know, but when I find out, they're getting a steel boot in the backside." I picked up the bookbag Mom left for me, slung it over my shoulder and started out of the room. Middy followed quickly behind me. He caught up to me a few feet down the hall.

"Iris, I'm sorry." He said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For upsetting you. I didn't know you'd get that mad."

I smiled. "You didn't make me mad. It's just...not really something I like talking about. Heck, besides my parents, you're the only other person who knows about it."

He shot me another confused look. "Who else knows about it?"

"My best friend. She's the only one I've told about it, and she's promised me that she won't tell anyone else."

Middy brought a hand up to his chin. "You know, you've gotten used to the idea that your parents are a pair of world wide heroes and that you're now a teenage Maverick Hunter pretty quickly."

I adjusted the bookbag over my shoulder. "Yeah. Some part of me believes that this is a dream and I'm expecting to wake up to my room's alarm clock any minute no-ow!" I rubbed a small spot on my arm that Middy had just pinched hard. He just shrugged.

"Proving that you're already awake." He said with a smile.

"Thanks." I muttered. "Anyway, I'd better get going. I'm going to be late for school if I don't leave now."

Middy stopped in front of the door that led to the Command Center. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. We can just 'port you there."

I shook my head. "Thanks, but I don't think that would be appropriate. You know, misusing resouces and all." The door opened, revealing Colonel Snow-Cap.

"It's fine," he said as he sipped his drink. I'm starting to think his cup doesn't ever empty. "You still need a proper education and you can't afford to be late to anything." Middy practically shoved me into the room. I stumbled forward just as Colonel Snow-Cap stepped aside, resulting in a less-than-graceful faceplant onto the floor. Everyone working in the room turned to see my collapsed body before resuming their work.

Thanks, Middy. Speaking of the green devil, he moved to an open computer station and started typing in commands.

"Alright. School targeted," He said as the Academy popped up on his monitor. "Ready for transport."

I stood up. "Hold on, Middy. I don't want-"

"Transporting now." He said as he pressed a button on his keyboard. The last thing I saw of him at that moment was a wide smile on his face just as he turned around to watch.

Darn it! Why won't they listen to me?

* * *

**Chapter 3: Iris hoped that what happened in _The Matrix_ would happen for her too. The road acted like rubber and bounced Neo back when he failed his first big jump.**

**Chapter 7's reference to be answered next time.  
**


	10. Episode 3: Part 2

**Opted to change up the episode formatting a bit. Nothing too drastic, but I like the way it looks better than I did before.**

* * *

I don't like trees. All they're good for is what they do for us: recycle carbon dioxide for oxygen. Otherwise, all they really are are eyesores, obstructions and distractions. They also make for terrible landing pads.

The last part I learned after Middy's _excellent_ Trans Server aim landed me in a very large, very green tree not too far from the Academy. I landed squarely on my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. That was probably the least pleasant experience I've had with the whole Trans Server-thing ever since I discovered exactly who my family was. I had to carefully climb my way down the tree to make sure that I didn't tear anything on my school uniform.

I'm going to smack Middy the next time I see him.

Once I made my way down, I looked around to see exactly where I was. Middy actually listened to me without hearing what I had to say. I'm not sure how that works, exactly. I didn't want to be transported directly to the school, in case people were there. I would've gotten a slew of questions I wouldn't have any idea to answer. Instead, he dropped me off a few blocks away. That gave me the chance I needed to look like I was walking in from home.

Brushing off the dirt and pieces of bark from my uniform, I started making my way toward the school. I missed a whole day the day before, meaning I was going to have a lot of explaining and a lot of work to do. I sighed heavily. This wasn't going to be my day.

Other students started coming into my view. That meant I was getting closer to the campus and to what was likely going to be the longest day of my life. I was _not_ looking forward to even stepping _into_ the school gates, let alone getting the hateful glares from my teachers I knew I was going to get for missing the second day of school.

The few students arriving at the school were gathering around a tree just outside the gates to the Academy. Something up there garnered their attention. At first, I noticed the fact that they were circling a tree.

Did I mention that I hate trees?

That was reason enough for me to ignore whatever was going on up there. For all I knew or cared about, it could've been the first biomechanical squirrel in the area since they were put on the endangered species list three years ago. Those aren't that interesting. I've seen plenty of them before at the zoo.

Murmurs emerged from the crowd. The commotion coming from the crowd was a bit odd for an animal-machine hybrid. Then again, if people knew about me, I'm pretty sure I'd raise a few eyebrows myself. I walked by, trying to maintain a modicum of uninterest. I hate trees, and animals that choose to make the overgrown weeds their homes are of no concern to me.

"What is going on up there?" One person asked. I rolled my eyes. It couldn't have been anything that children could be subjected to. Either that, or said squirrel was currently gorging itself on a nut.

"Someone say something!" A random girl shouted. I rolled my eyes. _You_ just said something, you dork. That made me question the level of intelligence in this school. One day wasn't enough to help me gauge things and I wasn't looking forward to today.

"Is she even awake?" Someone else asked. Oh great. Now I know that it's a person up there. I brought my hand up to my face in irritation. There's only one person in this world that I can think of that would be up in a tree for any real reason. I stopped, knowing that I was going to regret looking. I turned my head slowly in the direction of the tree in which said students semi-circled.

I was right. Twice.

First, there was indeed a biomechanical squirrel in the tree, snacking away at a nut. I found it odd, since most squirrels didn't need to eat. Then again, thinking back to that trip to the zoo, I remembered that most squirrels were programmed to behave like the completely organic ones, so maybe that was why.

The other thing was a familiar looking teenage girl in the same uniform the Academy required everyone to wear. Her long black hair fell well below the branch she was crouched down on, while she stared me down with a familiar devilish smirk on her face. I returned the stare, wondering when Ibuki would decide to make her move. Nobody there was questioning what she was staring at, thank goodness. It'd have been pretty hard to explain that the two of us have this sort of interestingly-abusive friendship-type rivalry that I can't even properly articulate.

A slight breeze blew through the area, chilling me slightly and making me wonder if it would bother my leg. That's when I noticed something that caused me to furrow my brows. The breeze was pretty light, but strong enough to push clothes a noticeable amount. So then, why didn't Ibuki's move? Her hair, which definitely would've been blown around a bit, didn't move either.

Something wasn't right. That couldn't have been her up in that tree. She was trying to draw my attention, and it worked. She wanted to distract me for some reason, and I was pretty sure that it wasn't so that she would get caught asking me to borrow my homework.

Not that she would have. I _did_ miss a day after all.

I thought over it for a moment, wondering what exactly she was up to. Did she want me to fall in some elaborate yet cliché pitfall that would've taken her hours to prepare? Did she want to come at me from behind and try to catch me off guard? Or did she want to play a mind game with me and act like she wasn't even responsible for the dummy in the first place? I scanned the area in front of me for a moment. I knew for sure that she wasn't going to try anything in front of me. That wasn't her style, after all. Taking a deep breath, I decided to act on a hunch based on what her style actually _was_ and I threw a hard left kick behind me.

I was right again. Maybe today was my day. My heel stopped mere centimeters from Ibuki's mouth, forcing the ninja to stagger back in surprise. I couldn't see it when it formed, but a smirk was across her mouth when she leaned her head over to talk to me.

"I must be losing my edge," she said in amusement. I formed a smirk of my own.

"Or I'm getting better at figuring you out." I said before setting my foot down. "So, what's with the dummy?"

"I thought it might trip you up a bit. How'd you guess anyway?" Another breeze blew, forcing Ibuki to raise a hand and keep a few bangs out of her eyes.

"That's how. Nothing moved when the wind blew." I saw her scrunch her face in frustration.

"It _would_ be something I'd overlook." She said. I rolled my eyes.

"So how did you plan to get out of this mess?" I asked, thumbing in the direction of the crowd who, thankfully, hadn't noticed the two of us. Ibuki pulled a small remote control from her pocket and held it up with that familiar grin.

"Watch." She said, pointing the remote at the dummy and turning around. "Well, no, don't watch. It'll hurt."

I turned around to see what she was going to do. "What could possibly happen that-ARGH!" I rubbed my eyes in agony, as did the rest of the students around the tree. The dummy turned out to be a hologram with a small light. It shone a very bright white, causing anyone who looked at it to go temporarily blind.

Moments later, my eyes came back to life, blurring everything out like an unfocused set of binoculars. I blinked hard a few times to try and force my vision to clarity. As is did, I could see Ibuki wrapping her arms around her stomach, laughing at my, and by extension everyone else's, agony. I glared once it was no longer painful to do so.

"What's so funny?"

"I told you not to look, didn't I?" She said between laughs. I felt the sudden urge to kick at her again and not stop myself this time. I decided against it, though, because I knew it would devolve into another sparring match in which I'd apparently not have a chance at winning. She saw the look on my face and widened her smile.

"Oh come on, Eye." That was her nickname for me. I never really liked it. "You need to lighten up a bit."

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "First, I told you to stop calling me that. You know I hate being called that. Second off, your stupid little trap nearly blinded me for life."

This time, she rolled her eyes. "It wasn't that bad, Iris." She noted the looks we were getting from the people who were staring at us. They noticed where she was, I would imagine.

"What?" I asked, as if I were the one who was offended. "She's a gymnast and it was a bad glare from the windows. Get over it." The others started walking off, some shaking their heads as if they didn't believe what I said. I had a point; some of the windows _were_ visible through the leaves. Stand at the right angle and you'd be rubbing your eyes too.

Once the crowd dispersed, Ibuki gave me the most grateful look she could muster. "Thanks, Iris."

"You're welcome." We had this unspoken agreement. We would keep each other's secrets. She wouldn't tell anybody that I had a mechanical leg and I wouldn't tell anybody that she was a ninja. Yeah, one of our world's greatest heroes was a well-known ninja, and yet she wanted to keep who she was a secret when everybody else like her bragged about it. I never understood the logic behind it, even when she explained it to me. Oh well.

"Now then," she said. "Let's get around to the front gate so we can get ready for class."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not just go in through these?"

Ibuki shook her head. "These are the back gates, Eye. They only open these for deliveries. Food, supplies, equipment, that sort of thing."

"Oh. How do you know that?"

"I'm a ninja, remember? Investigating stuff is part of what we do. It also helps that I saw a delivery truck back here yesterday."

I rolled my eyes as we made our way around the brick wall that enclosed the campus. Have I introduced you guys to the school yet? No? Huh. Well, I guess I should do that. It's a large place. The gates and wall around it extend for a mile on each side, making a walk around the place a bit of a lengthy adventure. The main building sits in the center of the property and is huge. It rises about 8 or 9 stories and is very elegant looking. The exterior looks like marble, but it's really steel with cosmetic changes. Several other buildings dotted the grounds. Some of them were educational buildings, each specializing in a different aspect of the educational process. Others were small dormitories for the students that came from other countries or had a hard time commuting from home. Flower gardens and open grass fields with more evil trees spread over the majority of the grounds, with the only paved areas being small parking lots reserved for teachers and staff members and concrete walkways that connected the buildings together. All in all, it's a very beautiful, but very stereotypical "rich people" private academy.

"Why do the people who build places like these feel the need to make them much larger than they need to be?" I groaned as we rounded the first corner. Another mile and a half to go. Thankfully, we were fairly early for classes, meaning that we didn't need to rush to get to the other side.

"I don't know." Ibuki answered. "My guess would be that they wanted to attract as much attention as possible. Places like these aren't that cheap to construct, and private schools _do _tend to charge a lot of money to cover costs."

"Yeah, but what about those of us with disabilities? I can't take long walks like these."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Eye, you're not disabled. You've got two working legs, just like any other person. You take karate classes, for crying out loud."

"Yeah..." I trailed off, turning my attention to the nearby wall as we walked along it. "Until one starts having issues."

"What happened?"

I looked around. Other students passed around us, but none of them looked like they were interested in anything we had to say. They had their minds on other things. Good.

"A hydraulic line went out in my leg." I said, dropping my gaze down to it. "Liquid nitrogen poured out over everything and froze things up."

"Ah." She said, nodding her head. "Makes sense, considering what you do and what we do every now and then."

"Yeah." I hesitated for a moment, trying to think of what to say next. "Our last match caused it to rupture."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

I smiled sadly. I didn't want to put the blame on her like that. "Don't worry about it. I got it fixed and the guy who looked at it said it'd be fine. I'll send you the bill."

Ibuki lightly punched my shoulder. "Shut up."

We walked in relative silence for a few moments. Another breeze blew into our backs, forcing the two of us to restrain our hair so that we could see in front of us.

"Kinda windy, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah. The weather forecast didn't say we were going to have this much wind."

I rolled my eyes. "Ruined your big plans to attack me from behind. I remember."

"I would've had you too. I had you completely fooled until this stupid wind ruined everything."

I giggled. "Oh well. Maybe next time."

"So, where were you yesterday?" Some saliva caught itself in my throat. I knew that question was coming, yet it still caught me off guard. I don't know how she does it.

"I wasn't feeling too well. Mom thought it was best that I stay home from school."

"Really?" she asked, turning to show me her raised eyebrow. "Nobody answered when I came to visit yesterday."

"Mom and Dad had to work late, and I can't really hear the doorbell from my room."

"Oh. Makes sense, I suppose." We rounded the next corner and stopped in our tracks. Another crowd was gathering at these gates, but this one was much larger than the one Ibuki's holo-dummy attracted. We moved in closer to see what was going on. Ibuki and I had to dance around to try and see what was going on. I eventually got tired of trying to see around people and started shoving my way through. I could hear Ibuki groaning behind me when she saw what I was doing.

"Move over..." I said as I forced myself through. "Make way...coming through!" I eventually made it out to the front row, ignoring all of the angry glares I was getting along the way. Ibuki surfaced from the crowd a second later, muttering apologies to the people around us. I rolled my eyes.

"You're too soft to be a ninja." I whispered.

"No, I'm just not rude to other people." She whispered back. We turned our attention away from each other and looked at the ground in front of us. A red carpet that I was pretty sure wasn't there the first day of school was spread out, extending from the curb in front of the gate to the door to the Academy's main building. We both raised an eyebrow and looked at each other in confusion.

"What's going on here?" I asked. Ibuki simply shrugged. It was weird. There was no reason I could think of for an insanely long red carpet to be rolled out in front of everyone like this. I shrugged and moved my foot forward to take a step, only for a massive guy in a black suit and tie with black sunglasses and the most sour look I've ever seen pop up out of nowhere and shove me back.

"What's your problem?" I demanded, irate.

The man held a hand out in front of me. "Nobody walks on the carpet."

"Seriously? How else are we supposed to get in? Some of us _do_ value our education, you know." Not necessarily me, but saying that _did _help get people on my side. Ibuki rolled her eyes.

"You wait, like any other commoner." He said simply, blocking me from going anywhere considering the circumstances.

"Commoner? Buddy, who do you think it _is_ that allowed a meat-mountain like you get a job like yours in the first place? I have half a mind to drop you where you stand!" I raised a fist to emphasize my point. Ibuki placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn around and look at her.

"Now's not the time for you to do something stupid, Iris." She said. I glared at her for trying to stop me and intensified it when I realized she was right. "Just wait. Whoever this person is probably isn't going to take too much longer to get here."

Just as she said that, and probably because the universe wanted to prove her right again, a member of the crowd pointed out to the street and shouted. "Look!"

Everyone turned to see what he was pointing at. My eyes widened as an equally insanely long stretched limousine pulled up to the curb. The car seemed to stretch forever before finally slowing to a stop. The rear passenger door slowly inched its way in front of the carpet. Another man in a black suit stepped in front of the door and slowly opened it up. A pair of yellow formal shoes, the same ones we _have_ to wear with our uniforms, slowly swung out of the passenger area and set themselves gently onto the carpeted sidewalk. A moment later, a very good reason for my eyes to bug out further stepped out.

She was about 5 feet 10 inches, making me feel short once again. While she wore the same ridiculous outfit every other student, her waist-length blond hair sat more comfortably over the uniform than my brunette locks ever would. Icy blue eyes scanned over the crowd while an almost condescending smirk sat just below her nose.

My eyebrows furrowed at the sight. I didn't like the way she was coming off to begin with. A snobby little rich girl who apparently thinks higher of herself than she really should? No thanks. This Academy probably has enough egotistical morons to last it a while, and I don't feel like putting up with one. Thankfully, though, from what I could remember from my first day, I didn't have any of those people in my classes, so maybe my luck would hold out.

I turned to Ibuki, frown in full force. "Who's she?"

Ibuki shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't hear anything about a new student coming in anytime soon. Want me to look into her?"

I nodded wordlessly and turned back to watch her make her way smugly toward the school. Once she was a good distance away, her meat-parade rolled up the carpet behind her and let everyone else through. I had no idea who this brat thought she was, but I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with her.

Then again, if my leg is any indication, my luck never really was all that great.

**

* * *

Chapter 7 mentioned a favorite drink on the TV show _NCIS._ McGee and Abby are often seen drinking Caf-Pow!'s, sometimes sharing the same one. Kudos to the _one_ person who took a stab and mentioned the Men In Black reference that was in there, too.**


	11. Episode 3: Part 3

Homeroom class is probably the least educational class we have on our schedule. All we really do in the class is take roll call and work on any homework we didn't finish the night before. I liked the fact that the class was the first class of the day, because it gave me an excuse to do my homework at school, rather than sit at home and work on it. Now I've got more important things to do than try and figure out how trigonometry allows me to figure out someone's height based on their shadow. Like trying to figure out what Archon meant yesterday when she said her "Lord will rise."

I scrunched my eyebrows as the thought entered my mind for the first time since I beat her in the field. She mentioned that as she fell to the ground after taking my strongest attack. It didn't bother me when she first screamed it, because I was too wrapped up in relishing my first real victory in _anything_. I couldn't beat Ibuki to save my life. Mom and Dad had to buy my way into this prestigious Academy to make sure I got a good education. My left leg isn't mine for reasons that I'm uncomfortable with discussing to this day. I actually beat someone in a fight for once, and I didn't even stay focused long enough to ask crucial questions.

My pen hovered over my arithmetic exercises as I thought about it. I did a lot of personal research on Zero...er...Dad when I was at home. A lot of it involved looking through whatever records of his life were out there, not that many were. The records I _could_ find didn't contain much in terms of enemies he had to face during his time as a Maverick Hunter or a Resistance Army General. The only thing I could think of that fit even remotely was Mom's blunder that started the whole Neo Arcadian energy fiasco to begin with.

Copy X.

The people who worked for him were one of two types: they were brainwashed or reprogrammed, like the Four Generals, formerly Guardians, or they followed him religiously. Seriously. Entire factions of overly-excited zealots had been formed in the belief that Copy X was a Messiah sent to recreate the world in his perfect image.

Maybe that's what Archon was talking about. Maybe plans were underway to restore the fallen former leader of our great nation. I started chewing my pen in anxiety. I only started wearing armor two days ago, and I had just busted my first Maverick the day after. There was no way that I was ready to take on someone as powerful as Copy X and, for all I knew, whoever the people working to revive this "Lord" were only minutes away from accomplishing their goal.

"Yo." Ibuki popped up right in front of me, making me jump. I hated that.

"Don't sneak up on me!" I cried out. People turned to look at us as if we'd interrupted their conversations. I think we did.

Ibuki scratched her head a bit in nervousness. "I didn't. I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."

"Oh."

Ibuki pushed my unfinished homework aside and sat down on the newly created empty spot on my desk.

"So, what's got you so distracted this early in the morning?" She asked.

"Uh...nothing really." I lied. Hopefully she wouldn't be able to tell. It's not like we've been friends for years or anything. "I just kinda spaced out, I guess."

"You seemed to be in pretty deep thought. Deeper than just 'spacing out'." She brought a finger up to her chin. "Is your...issue...still bothering you?"

"No. Everything's fine on that front." I thought a change of subject was rather necessary. I didn't want her to dwell completely on me, otherwise she'd start getting curious. _Then_ I'd have to start watching the shadows around me. "So, did you find anything on Connie Cashola from this morning?"

Ibuki shook her head. "No. I haven't started looking, to be honest. I can't start a background check unless I know her name, and nobody's talking. I'm starting to wonder if anybody actually _knows._"

I giggled a bit. "Maybe people are finally starting to wise up to your interrogation tactics."

She scrunched her face in mock puzzlement. "What? How could people resist my puppy-dog pout?" With that, she immediately contorted her face into the most pitiful near-cry she could muster. It would've worked on me if I hadn't seen it so many times in so many situations that called for it. Instead, I opted to laugh a bit and roll my eyes.

"Me, for one." I said. "So, how long would it take you to dig up some dirt on the new girl once you've got her name?"

Ibuki pursed her lips in thought. "Depends, really. Rich people tend to have tighter screws on their safes, if you know what I mean." I nodded in understanding. If I were rich, I wouldn't want people getting into my personal information. A moment later, our homeroom teacher walked into the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please." Ms. Fair said as she approached the digital-whiteboard at the front of the room. The class quieted down and the students that weren't at their desks made their way to where they belonged. Ibuki took her seat directly across from mine. We sit in the back of the class for obvious reasons.

Meet our homeroom teacher, Ms. Levi Fair. She's around 5 foot 8 inches in height, making me glad that not everybody in the world is a giant. I can't tell you her weight, but I'd guess she was around 95 pounds, making her about the same size as me in every aspect. I've heard boys in the hallways talk about her shoulder-length navy hair as if it were flowing like the ocean itself. I don't see it like that, but I _do_ admire how she makes such simple-styled hair look great. She had eyes that, according to the boys, were as deep as the wide blue. Why did they compare everything about her to the ocean, anyway? I will admit, though, that I share their appreciation for her voice, which I can only describe as vocal velvet to the ears. On this day, she wore a solid-black shirt and a skirt that ended just below her knees. Black pumps rounded out the single color outfit. She wasn't much of a color coordinator, to be perfectly honest.

"I would like to make an announcement. We have a new student joining our class today." She turned to the open door, where the girl Ibuki and I talked about stood with that confident smirk still on her face. She held her bookbag in front of her in an almost pompous manner. I could feel a sense of disdain starting to build up inside me. Ms. Fair beckoned the girl to her, who entered and stood next to Ms. Fair. "This is Ms. Cecelia Berkana. She'll be joining us on our journey toward an educated future."

I rolled my eyes. Ms. Fair, who I'm not even sure _why_ we call her that since she's married, has a tendency to make things much more extravagant than they needed to be. Was it so hard for her to say that she'd be part of our class from now on? Several students looked around and wondered the same thing, making Ms. Fair roll her eyes as well.

"That means she'll be a part of our class from this day forward."

See? Was that so bad?

"Why don't you introduce yourself, Ms. Berkana?" She asked the new girl. Said girl bowed to the class.

"Hello," she said. Ugh. Even her voice was pompous. "My name is Cecelia Berkana. I look forward to meeting every one of you and having the best possible educational experience possible."

Ms. Fair smiled. "Very good. Now then, why don't you take a seat behind..." At that point, I tuned her out. I looked over at Ibuki. She leaned over her desk, staring at the girl intensely. Her hands moved around in what most people would consider an "erratic manner." I knew what she was doing, though.

Hand signs. She was planning on doing that ninja voodoo that she do. Ninja have many talents. They're excellent doctors, skilled stealth tacticians, martial arts masters, and capable of techniques most people deem physically impossible to perform. She looked at me with a smile on her face. I rolled my eyes as she shot me a knowing wink. Great. Cover time.

I pulled my phone from my bookbag and messed with it for a minute. I set it on the floor and pushed off hard on it. It slid along the floor and stopped under another student's desk. It thankfully went unnoticed, since most of the other students were focused on the new girl. A few seconds later, it went off, loudly playing the ringtone I love so much. Everybody turned to see what was making the noise that interrupted the buzz in the room.

Showtime. I took a deep breath, put on a mask of shock and stood up like a shot. "Oh!" I called out. "There it is!" I quickly walked over to the desk that my phone sat under. The student there bent over and picked it up.

"Is this yours?" He asked when I approached him. He held out the phone for me. I smiled and reached for it.

"Yeah, it is! Thanks!" Before I could take my phone back, though, another hand snatched it away. We both turned to see an irritated Ms. Fair clutching my phone.

"No, actually," She said, a slight growl in her voice and a glare in her eyes. "This phone now belongs to me. I know it's only the third day of classes, Ms. Sakamoto, and I'm aware that you've missed the second day, but I certainly _hoped_ that you are familiar with Academy regulations. This little distraction has obviously proven me incorrect. Perhaps losing this for the day will teach you a lesson that won't be found in any textbook."

I nodded solemnly. This is the kind of sacrifice you have to make when your best friend requires that you make a scene every now and then. I looked back to her and noticed that she had that same smile. I hoped she was grateful, because now I'd have to do without my phone for the rest of the day. My phone's importance increased dramatically, since it was the only way the twins could contact me if someone decided to cause trouble somewhere. I slinked back over to my desk and sat down. I looked at Ibuki. She still wore that smile. I rolled my eyes. I would've said something to her, but I knew that she wasn't going to answer me. She can't talk now, after all.

* * *

Other than the new student's intro and the great phone debacle that got me off to a great start to this year, nothing really eventful happened during the first half of my classes. My first four classes were mostly filled with lectures, which meant that the teachers did all the talking. It was a good thing, too, since I'd have had to cover for Ibuki _again_ if any of the teachers called on her and I wasn't interested in trying to explain her sudden inability to speak. The new girl didn't draw much attention to herself during classes, which was surprising considering her extravagant entrance before school started this morning.

Lunch time rolled around more quickly than I expected, to be honest. Before I knew it, I was sitting at a table in our school's refectory having my lunch. Refectory...really? Why don't they just call it a cafeteria, like the rest of the world? It kinda feels like I'm on a higher pedestal than the people who attend public schools. My food sat to one side of me while the work I needed to catch up on sat in a small pile in front of me. My pen danced across the computer pads, forming the notes and answers I would need in the future. I put on my thinking face again. Some of the material was pretty confusing. I felt a small tap on my shoulder.

"Hey." I said, not looking up.

"Yo." Ibuki said as she sat down in an empty seat across from me. "I finished digging."

"Did you put your shovel back where you found it?" I joked.

"Har. Here." She set a small computer pad in front of me. I tapped the screen and watched as a couple small windows popped up. "Well, there's good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?"

"We got her name." She said simply.

"Okay, so what's the bad news?"

Ibuki sighed. "I didn't get much else. Just as I figured, there wasn't a whole lot out there on our new classmate. She's the daughter of the CEO of Berkana Industries, Juno Berkana, and the next in line to take over the company when her father steps down."

I furrowed my eyebrows a bit. "I figured _that_. Her last name _is_ 'Berkana', after all. What else did you get?"

"Well, she's got something in common with you and me."

"What's that?"

Ibuki reached over and tapped the screen on the pad. A picture of Berkana popped up, showing her wearing a white top similar to my gi's, but it looked like a pullover with a V-neck rather than a jacket. She wore that smug smile as she held up a trophy.

"She's an accomplished martial artist." Ibuki said. "She's a black belt in tae kwon do. She's been practicing for almost her entire life, and has won numerous martial arts tournaments around the world." She shrugged. "Other than that, there really isn't anything out there about her."

"I see." I tapped a small icon on the corner of the screen, turning the computer pad off. "Well, thanks for trying."

"No problem. And thanks for the cover."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, you'd better thank me. Because of you, I lost my phone for the day. By the way, you need to teach your clones to talk before you get busted."

She returned my gesture. "Big sacrifice."

"It _is_! What if I had some kind of big emergency that I needed to leave for?"

"What could be so big that you'd need to be called in the middle of a class and try to convince the teacher to let you out?"

A Maverick attack. Duh. I couldn't really tell her that, though. I just kind of sighed instead of answering. Ibuki sighed too. I don't know what she got out of my sigh, but something clicked between us and she seemed to let whatever was on my mind go.

"So," she said after a few moments of silence. "How much work do you have to catch up on?"

I looked at the pile on the table. My head sank when I remembered about how much I had to do.

"That much, huh?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't want to be that new brat, though. She's got to make up _everything_ we've done so far. At least I finished the stuff we needed to do for the first half of yeseterday." I saw Ibuki sit up a bit uncomfortably and look past me. I put my face in my hand. This wasn't going to be a good time to let my mouth run, was it?

"A 'brat', am I?"

Nope. It wasn't.

I turned around to see Berkana standing right behind me, that same smirk on her face. The look in her eyes didn't seem to be one of disdain or discomfort. Instead, they looked like there was amusement in them. She took a seat next to me.

"I find it interesting that you would choose to place judgment upon me when you haven't had the opportunity to truly understand me." She said. It seemed like she was wanting to laugh my comment about her off. I frowned. I wasn't sure what was so amusing.

"I find it odd that you feel that you can simply assert yourself in anyone's private conversation as though you were welcome to begin with." I shot back. Berkana simply chuckled a bit.

"Fair enough, I suppose. So tell me, how is life treating you, Ms. Sakamoto?"

"Fair enough, I suppose. How do you know my name?"

"You had your personal telephone confiscated in class today. Ms. Fair made a bit of a scene in front of the other students."

Oh. Yeah.

"It also helps that my father happens to run one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world." I rolled my eyes. I _knew_ she was going to play that card at some point. "So, has everything been working properly?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She chuckled and patted her hand on my left knee. "Oh, I think you know what I mean, Ms. Sakamoto. You see, you may not have had the opportunity to learn about me, but I take the time to learn about all of our...'special' patients." Both Ibuki and I felt our eyes widen. At least, I did. I saw hers grow, too, so I know she felt it too.

"I don't think any medical conditions I may or may not have are any concern of yours." I snapped. Berkana simply chuckled again. I felt like I was slowly becoming a comedian. Everybody kept laughing at stuff I had to say.

"Perhaps not," she said as she slowly stood up. "But I felt that perhaps I could connect with a patient around my age. Oh well. I look forward to the feedback you may have about your 'medical supplies,' shall we say." Without another word, she slowly strode away, pure confidence radiating off of her.

I turned to Ibuki. She still looked shocked about Berkana knowing about my leg. I took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

"This is going to be one interesting year."


	12. Episode 3: Final

I didn't bother finishing my lunch. My face-to-face meeting with Berkana really put me off. Ibuki walked away from the table once Berkana left. I wasn't too happy with what had just happened, so she decided to let me have some time to myself to let me cool off a bit. Our school isn't too strict on student behavior during lunch times, so I thought a walk through some of the open areas of the campus would do the trick. I picked up the materials scattered around the table and walked out of the refectory.

Once I was outside, I set my stuff down near an empty tree and just started walking. The breeze from earlier in the day blew through the grounds, chilling me a bit as I took my stroll. It felt nice. The sky was partly cloudy, but the clouds themselves were few and far between, offering little shade from the midday sun. Not that shade was necessary. The sun warmed the air comfortably. All in all, it was what many people would call a beautiful day.

I made my way to a nearby grass field, watching the blades dance in the light wind. The grass was pretty tall, but it was well maintained so that it looked like the height was intentional. A few other students dotted the area. Some of them sat alone, taking in the atmosphere. Some of them sat with friends or with their dates, for the people that attended the school long enough to start relationships.

I found a spot out of the way and plopped myself onto the ground. Laying onto my back, I let the breeze soothe my skin and relaxed. I closed my eyes and let the events from lunch play out through my head again. Thinking about it, I felt as though I overreacted to Berkana talking to me. I don't know why I snapped, though. Maybe it wasn't so much Berkana herself that I didn't like, but what it was she represented.

Rich people, in general, have always seemed to put themselves on a higher pedestal than the rest of society. Senses of entitlement that were dwarfed only by their egos. The belief that money could get them anything they wanted. My mom and dad worked hard for the lifestyle that we have now, Hunting aside. We aren't rich by any means, but I'm proud of the way we live because I know that my parents do the best they can with their skills. I wouldn't want to be rich. I can't imagine myself flaunting wealth like a peacock preening its feathers.

"That's kinda harsh, isn't it?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts. Or I thought they were thoughts. Maybe I only _thought_ I was thinking, but wasn't really thinking in my head. Anyway, I sat straight up and looked in the direction of the voice. Ibuki had tracked me down and was sitting next to me with a smile on. Usually, when she smiles, it means she's got some kind of shenanigans in mind. She didn't like people knowing she was a ninja, but it made it easier for her to make people's lives a little more miserable. This time, though, she had on a warmer smile than usual.

"Oh, hey." I said. "Mouth working on its own again, huh?"

She nodded. "So, are you feeling better about what happened?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I think I overreacted. It wasn't quite fair of me to snap at her for something that I should've known she'd know about."

"I might've overreacted a bit myself. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that she would actually approach you in person and ask about your...uh...well..." She hung off, unsure of how to finish. I don't blame her. I wasn't quite sure about how to finish that either. I _did_, however, know how to lighten the mood a bit.

I smiled. "What's this? Our resident ninja girl didn't see something happening? It's the end of the world."

Ibuki rolled her eyes and smiled again. "Shut up."

I sighed again. "I think I owe Berkana an apology."

"Maybe. Maybe she owes you one, too." Ibuki said as we both stood up. "After all, she _did_ kinda push her way into our conversation uninvited. I should probably apologize for digging around behind her back."

I threw my hands in the air dramatically. "A round of apologies for everyone!" I quietly cried out, hoping not to embarrass myself in front of the other students in the field. A moment of silence passed before either of us made another sound. We both laughed.

If it gets a laugh out of my friends, especially my best friend, I'm more than willing to make myself look like an idiot. To an extent.

I looked at my watch, noting the time. We only had a few minutes left for our lunch break "We'd better get moving. It wouldn't be good for us to be late."

Ibuki nodded and followed me as we made our way back toward the buildings. I stopped suddenly when a thought came across my mind.

"Something wrong, Iris?" Ibuki asked, stopping as well. I turned around with a panicked expression on my face.

"I can't remember where I left my stuff!"

Ibuki rolled her eyes and tapped her foot impatiently. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly she was unhappy about. I looked down to see her foot going up and down before I noticed that she was carrying more items under her arms than she needed for her classes.

Wait. Extra stuff?

I pointed at the pile under her left arm. "Is that mine?"

"Yes, you dolt." She said, stifling a laugh. "Next time, don't just leave your stuff lying around."

"Yes, mother." I said sarcastically. I relieved her of my belongings and gave her a quick hug in thanks. "I'd better get going. I'll see you in a little while."

"Yeah. See ya." With that, Ibuki walked to her own classes. I turned around and started toward the main building for my music class. As I walked, I told myself that the next time I saw Berkana, I'd apologize to her for being rude to her. It didn't take long after that for me to see her again. She was walking to the same building I was. I picked up my pace to catch up to where she was.

"Miss Berkana!" I called after her once I was close enough. She didn't seem to hear me, since she didn't respond or turn around. I closed the distance a little more before trying again.

"Miss Berkana!" She heard me that time and turned to face me, that same smirk still on her face.

"Ah, Miss Sakamoto. Is there something I could help you with?"

"Well," I said nervously. I'm not very strong when it comes to apologies. "I...uh...I want to apologize for my behavior earlier." Berkana didn't react much. She set a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, not losing that smirk. "I...uh...I overreacted earlier when we talked at lunch."

"Did you now?" She said smugly. I started getting the feeling that I wasn't being taken seriously.

"Yes, I did. I was out of line and shouldn't have snapped. I shouldn't have judged you either." I bowed. "I'm sorry." Moments of silence passed between us. I knew she hadn't ignored me and walked away, because I could still see those awful looking slacks and shoes. Nobody could make those ugly clothes look good. I closed my eyes and took as deep a breath as I could while I was bent forward.

Turned out to be a mistake on my part.

I felt something hard slam down on my shoulder. The impact forced me down to one knee and knocked everything out from under my arm. My eyes shot open to see her heel on my shoulder. A high pitched laugh pierced through the otherwise silent scene.

"How pathetic." She sneered over me. "Proper apologies should be delivered down on one knee."

I clutched my throbbing shoulder. I thought it might've been separated from the hit. "What...is wrong with you...?" I groaned in pain.

"You're pathetic." Berkana's smirk grew. "What makes you think I care about anything you have to say?" She dug her heel into my shoulder, increasing the pain I felt. "All you are to me is a patient. And all a patient is good for is profit."

I pushed her foot off of me and stood up with an angry glare on my face. "And here I was hoping I was wrong about you."

"Oh? Wrong about what, exactly?"

I smirked myself as I shook the pain out of my arm. "I thought maybe I was wrong when I assumed you weren't the peacock spoiled brats like you tend to be. Seems like I gave you too much credit."

Berkana brushed her hair with her hand. "A peacock, you say? Well, they _are_ rather beautiful birds."

I brought a finger to my chin in mock-thought. "Now that I think about it, a spoiled brat like you is used to getting their way all the time, aren't you?"

Berkana's smirk grew. "Why yes. Yes I am."

My smirk . "Then I guess I'm safe in assuming that dear old daddy mailed in those championships you've got."

Her smirk vanished, replaced by a violent glare. I knew I had her.

"You watch what you say, you filthy commoner." She growled.

"Hey, everybody has a price, right? I don't think it'd be too much to pay off your competition."

Turn the knife a little, please.

Berkana got angrier. Her face twisted as she held back her rage. After a few seconds, though, she took a deep breath, relaxed, and slipped a new smirk onto her face.

"So, you doubt the skill that I have?" She asked, trying to keep up appearances. She then slid one foot back and fell into a fighting stance. "Perhaps you would like to stroke my plumage, then?"

I fell back into my own stance. "Sure. Just don't be upset if I ruffle your feathers a little."

Neither of us moved for what seemed like forever. We stood silently, staring one another down. Possibilities of all kinds ran through my head. I could charge forward and punch or kick her. I could dart in and bait her into an attack. I could sit here and wait for her to make the first move.

Or, I could stand here long enough for another breeze to blow a stray leaf into my eye and give her a perfect distraction.

I shook the leaf out of my eye and, before I knew it, Berkana had moved in and threw a roundhouse kick at my head. I blocked it, smirked, and stepped in to throw a punch. My fist landed squarely on her chest, sending her stumbling back onto her bottom. She clutched where I hit her and cried out in pain.

"Well, looks like I was right." I said as I stepped closer to gloat in her face. Berkana volunteered to prove that was a stupid mistake by sweeping my feet out from under me, forcing me to fall onto my own backside. I didn't have time to wince in pain, though, because Berkana picked herself up as I fell and slammed me in the chest with a kick. I fell back and bounced my head on the ground. I was just glad that we were fighting on grass, rather than pavement. I clutched my head and groaned in pain as Berkana stood over me.

"How pathetic." She sneered. A wave of dizziness washed over me. "To be defeated by such an amateur tactic." She then lifted a leg high in the air. Once the dizziness passed, I easily figured out what she was going to do. I rolled out of the way just as she brought her heel down right where my head used to be. Berkana smirked again.

"Well, so you can take a hit or two. I wonder how long you can last against me?"

I picked myself up onto my feet and fell back into my fighting stance. My head throbbed with every second. I hit my head fairly hard because I got overconfident and lazy. With my fist in front of me, I looked at the watch strapped around my wrist. Oh, how easy it would be to suit up, kick the snot out of her right here and not give her a chance to stop me. Unfortunately, doing that would draw much more attention than I wanted. Not that we weren't getting any now.

Several students saw us fighting and started to circle us, giving us a nearly impenetrable barrier for us. Cheers and murmurs came from the crowd. I did my best to tune them out and concentrate on the butt in front of me that desperately needed to be kicked. It wasn't easy, since the crowd around us grew with every passing second.

I shook my head sharply to try and ward off some of the pounding. It only took a second, if that long, but Berkana moved in again when I took my eyes off of her. She threw so many kicks at me I couldn't possibly block them all if I tried. Hard hits landed everywhere on my body, pushing me back toward the crowd. One final roundhouse sent me spiraling face first to the ground to an uproar of applause.

Thanks, jerks. Support the snob. See if I care.

Berkana slowly walked over to me as I writhed in pain on the ground. Everything from the waist up ached. I struggled to pick myself up, but doing that isn't exactly easy when your arms are sore. Berkana knelt down next to my head and brought her lips close to my ear.

"So," she whispered, barely audible over the cheering crowd. "Do you doubt my skill now?"

I didn't answer. I was too preoccupied with trying to bring myself to my feet. That didn't sit too well with Berkana. She slipped away from my head. I had hoped that she was satisfied with beating me in a fight. I really need to stop hoping for stuff. A massive wave of pain shot through my left leg. Berkana had gone down and contorted it into an awkward angle. My eyes shot wide open and my back arced as I released the biggest cry of pain I can remember.

While I cried out, I could see some of the faces of the students that circled us go from excitement to pity or fright st the sight. If I could have, I would've rolled my eyes.

Don't just stand there, jerks! Help me out here!

None of them bothered to do anything more than watch my leg get twisted in the most painful manner any of us had ever seen. Not that I was able to see what Berkana was doing, but the amount of agony going through me was enough to convince me of what was happening.

It lasted for what seemed like forever. Berkana grunted as she yanked harder and increased the pressure. I was glad that she didn't go after my _real_ leg, otherwise the internal damage she could have done would've been more extensive than what she was causing now.

"MOVE!" I heard a voice shout from among the crowd. Several students moved out of the way to let my savior for the moment through.

Ms. Fair, with Ibuki right behind her. What was it with Ms. Fair being the one to handle my problems that day? And how did Ibuki know where I was? Oh well. Don't look a gift Mechaniloid in the mouth, they say. Ms. Fair shoved Berkana off of me, forcing the peacock to let my leg go. Ibuki quickly knelt down beside me.

"Hey," she said worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"No." I groaned through clenched teeth. I rolled onto my back and lifted my leg off of the ground. "I think something's torn." Ibuki eyed my leg, then looked at the crowd.

"Think you can stand up?" She asked as she took hold of my wrist. I nodded yes, though the pain tried to convince me to stay where I was. Ibuki slowly pulled me up, slinging my arm over her shoulders so that I could use her as a makeshift crutch while I kept my left leg off the ground. I had a little trouble balancing myself on my good leg, as the beats in my head started up again. It didn't help that Ms. Fair chose that particular moment to raise her voice.

"Ms. Sakamoto!" She nearly roared. "Honestly! I expected much better behavior from the students of this Academy. _Clearly_ I expected too much from you." She turned to Berkana. "And as for you, Ms. Berkana..."

"It wasn't my fault!" She whined. Great. Now she's trying to pin the blame on me. "She attacked me out of nowhere!"

"It matters not! Considering your family, I expected _far _better from you. Clearly, I simply _cannot_ be correct about _anything _today. You two are to visit the Headmaster's Office, immediately!"

I groaned again, both in agony and in irritation. It wasn't bad enough that my head and my leg were killing me, but now I have to prepare myself for three different yelling fits.

This just wasn't my day.

* * *

**The fight was rushed, but I didn't want it to last too long. Fights at schools are never long, anyway.**

**New reference in this chapter. Take a guess if you dare. However, if you don't spot it, feel free to turn in your video game fan card at any time.  
**


	13. Episode 4: Cat in the Cradle

_**A long, long time ago. When the Reploids weren't all in your face about it...**_

**CAT IN THE CRADLE**

Blood rushed to my head, making me extremely dizzy extremely quickly. I was instantly grateful about my conversation with the Headmaster of the Academy taking it easy on me and only contacting my parents about me fighting. At this point, however, I silently wished that he'd thrown the book at me, that way I wouldn't be hanging upside-down from a tree in our back yard, tied up so I couldn't move anything other than my neck, eyes and mouth.

"I'm starting to get a headache!" I called into my house's backdoor, which was conveniently open.

"Now you understand how I feel." Mom said as she walked out with a towel in her hand. She wiped away the beads of sweat that formed on my forehead.

"This isn't fair!" I cried. "I didn't even do anything wrong!"

Mom gave me an intense scowl. "You got into a fight at school, and were kicked out for the day. You have no idea how this inconveniences me, Iris. I was at a house, doing my job when I got a _very embarrassing _phone call asking _me_ to pick _you_ up from school because _you_ decided to pick a fight with the _one_ person at the Academy who could sue us for all we're worth and not finish collecting for at least _one hundred years_!"

"I get it, Mom! I had a lapse in judgment! But it wasn't my fault!" I struggled against the metallic bindings holding me in place. They rubbed uncomfortably against my skin. If I moved too much, I'm pretty sure they could have rubbed me raw.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I know. Ms. Berkana instigated _everything_, didn't she?"

"She did! If she hadn't gotten in my face in the first place, I wouldn't have snapped at her!"

"And, because she did, according to you, I now have to write the most drawn out and redundant apology letter in my _life_ in order to convince her family to continue supporting us in their limb replacement research."

"I'm sorry!" At that moment, we both looked into the house. The doorbell rang a couple of times, and I offered a silent thank you to the powers that be that someone was here. That meant one thing.

"Lucky you." Mom said icily. "I have to cut you loose. It would look bad if our visitor saw you hanging out back here."

Yeah. Because I was _totally_ strung up back here willingly. Ack! Mom loosened the cables that bound me to the tree. The first drop was quick, magnifiying the headache that I developed into something painful. She then eased me down until gravity helped me lay down on the ground. Mom untied me, allowing me to stand on my own for what felt like forever. Turned out to be an hour.

Worst hour ever, by the way.

We both made our way into the living room. I rubbed my sore wrists and willed my throbbing head to stop while Mom answered the door. The person that stood on the other side when she opened it was someone I wasn't expecting to see.

Or people, as it were.

A familiar combination of blonde hair, blue eyes, and angry scowl was revealed. I instantly formed a frown of my own. This was the _last_ place I wanted to see Berkana. This _is_ where I live, after all. I don't need _her _harassing me any time she pleases. She wasn't alone, however. A middle aged man stood next to her, a warm smile on his face. His eyes were closed, making it impossible for me to tell what he was thinking. What struck me as odd about this man, if the closed eyelids weren't enough, was this man's lavender, shoulder-length hair.

I mean, what kind of man has lavender hair, anyway?

"Hello, Mrs. Sakamoto." He said in an eerily warm voice. "I am Juno Berkana, and this is my daughter, Cecelia."

Oh. That kind.

"Ah, yes." Mom said, offering her own warm smile as she took a step to the side. "Please, come in and have a seat." The two did as they were offered and made their way over to the couch. My eyes never left the younger Berkana as the two sat down. Mom walked rather briskly to the kitchen while I sat down on the floor. Moments of silence passed between us. Mr. Berkana sat back on the chair, eyes still closed. I wondered if he could even see that way. Berkana kept her eyes away from me. I don't blame her. If she looked at me, I would've snapped. Both my sanity and her neck.

Thank goodness Mom came back before I did, though. She held out a couple of teacups to our visitors.

"I'm afraid we only have store-brand tea." She said. "I hope it's alright."

"Oh, that's quite fine, Mrs. Sakamoto." Mr. Berkana replied as he graciously accepted my mother's peace offering. Berkana herself declined. Either she wasn't thirsty, or our meager "commoner" tea wasn't good enough for her.

"Now then, what is it that we can do for you, Mr. Berkana?"

"Oh, please. Call me Juno." He chuckled slightly before sipping his tea. I wasn't even aware that he'd said anything funny. "Well, Mrs. Sakamoto, it would seem that my dear daughter here has caused a bit trouble for you and young Iris."

I quietly huffed. Understatement of the Year candidate.

"It would seem that these two engaged themselves in a contest that is highly frowned upon by our fair Academy."

"Yes," Mom glared at me. "It would."

"Well, I understand that you were not given the entire story. You see, it would seem that my dear here instigated the entire affair in which we find ourselves. She approached young Iris in a manner that anyone would deem less than appropriate." He turned and his smile faded. He didn't have any expression that I could see, but I could tell by the way that Berkana shifted uncomfortably that he probably wasn't too happy. "I felt that it would be best that Cecelia and I come speak to you in person about this manner. After all, she _does_ have something to say. Don't you, Cecelia?"

Berkana shifted around again. I raised an eyebrow. She then got up with the worst lemon-face I've ever seen and stood in front of me.

"I..." She trailed off. Apologies apparently weren't her thing. "I...apologize for my behavior earlier. I was..." She looked back to her father, who wore a blank expression. "...out of line, I suppose. I should never have approached you at school the way I did, and I should not have mocked you when you chose to speak to me. I'm...sorry..."

I stood up and looked her in the eye. I didn't like the fact that I had to look up to her a bit in order to do that. Neither of us moved or said anything for a few moments. Our parents watched us like we were animals in a zoo. If I acted on the urge I felt on that moment, they would have had every right. They also would've had the right to lock us both in a cage and take bets on which one of us would walk out.

More moments of silence. The tension between Berkana and myself built up slowly. My eye twitched. I had no idea how to react to someone who gave a half-hearted apology. Thankfully, the powers that be sent me another "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

The phone rang. Mom got up and made her way to the kitchen to answer it. I took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. At least this distraction wasn't going to cause me any pain, unlike the last couple I had.

"Look," I said. "I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have said what I did. It was rude and uncalled for, I guess."

Another awkward silence. These things were starting to get on my nerves. Would it kill her to say something positive?

"Iris!" Mom called out as she emerged from the kitchen. "Phone's for you."

I sighed again. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath. "Alright." I answered. I didn't really care who was calling me, just as long as I could get away from that blond brat.

Mom handed me the phone as I passed her. Stepping into the kitchen, the wondrous smell of the food she was making for dinner flooded my senses. She may not be much with color coordination, but Mom sure knows her way around a kitchen, that's for sure.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone.

"_Iris_!"

I yanked the phone away from my ear. There was only one person I could think of that would think that yelling in someone's ear and destroying their eardrum was an acceptable greeting.

"Middy? How'd you get this number?"

"_Your mom_."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, real mature."

"_She gave me your number yesterday, goof."_ Oh. "_Anyway, are you busy?_"

"Kinda. Had some problems at school and now I'm working on resolving them."

"_Well, hurry up and get to HQ. I've got something important for you._"

I rolled my eyes. "Right. I'll be there as soon as I can." I hung up just as soon as Middy started saying something. Ha! How does it feel to be ignored at the last minute?

I made my way back to the living room just in time to see the Berkana family stepping out.

"I apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused you two." Juno said as they left. "I hope this little debacle will not affect any future decisions you may make."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Mom assured him. "Thank you for your visit, sir."

"It was our pleasure, wasn't it, Cecelia?" She nodded silently. I was just thankful that they were leaving. I didn't mind her dad too much. He seemed like he was much nicer than his devilish daughter, that was for sure.

"We really should do this again sometime." Mom said. Oh, jeez. I hope not. If I have to sit in the same room with that brat any longer than I need to at school, I swear one of us isn't going to make it out.

Juno and Cecelia made their way toward a black car parked on the street outside. I didn't see any sort of driver or anything in the car, so maybe he drove the two of them. Oh well. Mom closed the door once they were a reasonable distance away.

Not that there was one when Princess was involved.

"Mom." I said solemnly. "I have something I need to tell you."

She eyed me suspiciously. "What is it?"

"There's a bun in the oven."

Mom stared at me blankly for a moment before realization dawned on her.

"So what?"

"I'm hungry."

Mom rolled her eyes. "You're a big girl, Iris. You can wait until the rest of dinner's ready."

I put on the most pitiful pout I could muster. I _really_ wanted one of the buns Mom was baking in the oven. Instead of falling for my near fool-proof pout, Mom opted to roll her eyes once more and walk past me, thumping me on the head as she did. I rubbed the spot she hit, more out of embarrassment than pain.

"So," Mom said. "What was it that Middy wanted?"

I shrugged. "He wanted me to go see him at the base. Said he had something important to show me."

"I'm sure he does, Iris. You didn't happen to tell him about the trouble you got yourself into, did you?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "How could I? I didn't have my phone for about ninety percent of the day."

"Good point. If I let you go under the assumption that you'll come back right away, do you think you'll be home in time for dinner?"

I nodded. Where else was I going to go? I didn't have a whole lot of options thanks to the fact that Mom could strategically place herself in front of the only door in the house that didn't lead to an enclosed area. It didn't help that I had _no _idea how to work a Trans Server to begin with. Mom thought about letting me go for a moment.

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Thanks, Mom!" I hugged her quickly before making my way over to the wall just underneath the staircase. My memory of where the fingerprint scanner on the wall sat started getting better, so it only took me a minute this time around to find it. I pressed my thumb on the spot where it belonged and watched as the wall slid away. Mom followed me as I went down the staircase and into the mini-command center in our "basement." She went to the nearest computer and typed in a few commands. A minute later, the Trans Server in the corner of the room started pulsing blue.

"Alright, Iris." Mom said. "Everything's ready to go. Have fun." She said the last two words with a sugary sweet smile. It made me wince inwardly, because I knew what that look meant.

_Have fun, because you're going to be doing anything but when you get back._

I quickly stepped onto the blue square and waited for the tingling feeling and light show to start. I couldn't wait to see what Middy had for me to see.

**

* * *

Chapter 12: Beats started playing in Iris' head again. "Beats in My Head" is Elena's stage theme in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.**


	14. Episode 4: Part 2

I decided that I don't want to get used to the feeling of traveling through a Trans Server. I've only gone through two in my lifetime to this point, but I can't say I haven't enjoyed the trips I've taken. Well, there was that one that led to my first fight with a Maverick, but I wasn't in a good mood to begin with, so I don't think that really counts.

When the ride came to an end and I found myself just outside the Maverick Hunter Corps building, I dropped my shoulders in disappointment. It's a lot of fun going through one of those things. Once I was ready to move, I made the same mistake I made the first time I came to this place. I looked up at the top of the building.

The point reminded me of something I didn't want to remember. A night full of nothing but bad memories.

I shivered. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to look in front of me and ignore the feeling that was building up inside of me. Another moment to collect myself, then I started toward the doors.

Once I made it into the lobby to the MHC, I noticed a couple of things. One, the receptionist that greeted us the first time I came here wasn't there. Instead of the overly-excited "hick," a young man with short brown hair sat behind the front desk. He engrossed himself in the computer that sat in front of him, so I didn't say anything to him as I passed by to get to the elevator. Didn't want to distract him from whatever it was he was doing, after all.

I don't think that sat well with the guy, because the second thing I noticed made itself abundantly clear. A large mass of muscle that dared call itself a person in a security uniform stepped in front of me just in front of the elevator in question.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, crossing his arms in front of him in a typical manner. I resisted rolling my eyes.

"Upstairs," I said. "I'm due for a meeting with my support team."

"Uh-huh." He replied, obviously not believing me. "And I'm trying out for the lead in the next company ballet."

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Somehow, I don't think you'd have the grace you need to get the part."

"Smart mouth, kid."

"Thanks. Brain works pretty well, too." I took a step to the side. The meathead stepped in the same direction, cutting me off again.

"I don't think you get what I'm trying to say." He said. "You're not going anywhere, girlie."

My eyebrow twitched. He did _not_ just call me 'girlie'.

"Look," I growled. "I may not look like it, but I happen to be a Maverick Hunter."

"Oh? Then let me see your badge."

Badge? I was supposed to get a badge? That was news to me.

"I...uh..." I started fumbling around, searching through my pockets for something that I knew I didn't have on me.

"Uh-huh. Just like I thought. Why don't you turn around and go on home? I'm sure I hear your mommy calling for you."

Another twitch. This guy was just _asking_ for a beating. I heard a 'ding' come from just behind the bulky security guard, serving as a taunt to the fact that there was no way I was getting around this monster.

"Iris!"

Or so I thought. We both turned to see a familiar mass of green and wide smile. Middy, clad in a green button-down shirt, blue jeans and a white lab coat, briskly walked up to us. I smiled.

"My savior!" I cried out. Middy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure I want to ask." He said. I think he wanted to laugh. "I think I will anyway. What's going on?"

"This jerk won't let me by. I was just on my way to meet with you when 'Tiny' here cut me off."

"We're not on a first name basis, girlie." The guard said. I jerked my head back in surprise. His name really _was_ 'Tiny'? I felt sorry for him already. "No badge, no pass. Simple as that."

"See what I mean?"

Middy looked at Tiny. "She's alright. She's with me."

"Then she won't have a problem showing me her badge."

I scratched the back of my head. "Uh...about that...I didn't get one..."

Middy rolled his eyes. "Yeah you did. It's on your morpher."

"It is?" I looked my watch over. "Where?"

The green twin rolled his eyes again. He stepped up to me, grabbed my wrist and pressed the button on the face. The display lit up before projecting a small hologram. A picture of the Maverick Hunter Corps logo hovered just above the watch, forcing Tiny's eyes to widen a touch.

"Alright then." He said, shuffling to the side a bit. "In that case, go right ahead."

I rolled my eyes. If only I had known...

Middy, still clenching my wrist, yanked me over to the elevator he'd gotten off of.

"What took you so long?" He asked as he pressed the 'UP' button.

"I was a little tied up." I said, struggling not to giggle at my own little joke. A 'ding' signaled the elevator's arrival. The doors opened, allowing the two of us walk in. Middy thumbed the button for the 90th floor and we began our ascent in the building. Remembering what Dad said the first time we came here, I tucked myself into a corner. Middy raised an eyebrow as he watched me do this.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Making sure I'm safe." I answered as I crossed my arms. "Elevators make for good ambush spots, I'm told."

"We're perfectly safe." Middy said. "This building is encased in a high power force field. Nothing gets in or out unless it's approved by our Operator teams."

I shifted a bit. "Can't be too safe, you know." Middy shook his head a bit.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the floor in question. At least, I think it was a few minutes. I fell asleep on the way up. Middy nudged me awake.

"You know," he said with a sly smile. "Being careful does you no good if you fall asleep."

"Shut up, Middy." Without another word, said green twin grabbed my wrist again and started dragging me down the hallway.

I_ can_ walk around on my own, people. I don't need to have my hand held everywhere. Just putting that out there.

We spent another couple of minutes walking toward our destination. I wasn't quite sure where Middy wanted to take me, but I had the strangest feeling that I was somehow going to enjoy this. Maybe it was the fact that ever since we got off the elevator, Middy had been beaming with pride. Maybe it was the fact that we were both moving down the hall at a brisk pace. Not really running, but not really walking, and yet not really power-walking. Somewhere in between the three, I guess.

Maybe it was the fact that Middy said, "You're gonna love this!" over and over again.

"Love what?"

"You'll see!" A moment later, we stopped in front of a white door. I figured he was just leading us to a random door, but that was only because I couldn't tell one door in this place from another. For all I knew, he was leading me into a restroom just to play a prank on me. I was proven wrong when he thumbed the door release and said door slid back, revealing a small laboratory behind it.

I scrunched my brows as we entered the room. "What are we doing here?"

"You'll see!" Middy looked around the room. "Techno! You still in here!"

"Yeah!" The purple twin called out, though neither of us could see him. Next thing we knew, a rather large, rather loud explosion rocked the room and, I'm pretty sure, the building too. Techno stumbled out of the room that went 'kerplooey' and into the main lab, choking on the thick smoke that poured out of the room. Small scorch marks dotted his lab coat, while his purple hair had been slightly singed in the explosion.

"Are you alright?" I asked, concerned.

Techno coughed for another few seconds before answering. "I'm fine...Just a small mishap with a Buster pistol, 'zall."

"Alright then, if you're sure. Now then, what was it you wanted to show me?"

Middy and Techno looked at one another before wide grins grew on their faces. Techno reached into Middy's, _Middy's_, lab coat for something. Middy twitched slightly and held in a chuckle, which makes me think Techno might've tickled him a bit.

I wonder about those two.

A seconds later, Techno pulled out something I never expected to come from someone wearing a lab coat.

A toy mouse.

I could feel my eyebrow gain altitude at the sight. "What's that for?"

"This." Techno said. He turned toward a desk at the far end of the room, knelt down and set the mouse on the floor. He took out a small spool of string from his own coat and tied it to the toy's tail. Middy took a knee next to his twin and turned the key protruding from the toy's back, winding it up. Once he finished, he let it go. The three of us watched as the toy slowly ran down the room, Techno offering the toy more and more string to make it further without being stopped.

A sound came from under the desk. I looked at the desk. Was it..a purr? A moment later, my question was answered, and my eyes lit up at the sight.

A large cat with green fur and black spots leaped out and captured the toy in its paws. The cat's long tail swayed back and forth as the cat buried its nose into the toy. Techno yanked on the string, pulling the mouse out of the cat's paws. The cat watched the toy intensely, waiting for it to move again. When Techno pulled on it again, the cat pounced on the toy again. The little game continued until the cat was close enough for Middy to pick up and hold in his arms.

"What do you think?" He asked. His smile grew once he noticed the way I was looking at the cat.

"You guys...got me a cat?" I asked, fighting the urge to let my voice go up a few octaves.

"Not necessarily." Techno answered as the two stood up. "We made him for you."

"Made?"

Middy nodded. "He's a Mechaniloid." The cat in his arms hissed at him and batted a paw at his jaw.

I let myself giggle a bit. "I guess he doesn't like being called that."

"Guess not." Techno agreed.

"Wanna hold him?" Middy asked, holding out the cat for me to see.

"Yes, please." I said excitedly. I took the cat from Middy's hands and held him in my own. We stared each other in the eyes for a few moments. Techno stood beside his brother and wrapped an arm around his neck as they watched the two of us. Before long, the cat raised a paw, tapped me on the nose a couple of times and turned back to look at the mouse toy. I smiled and set him down. He ran back to the toy and started playing with it again.

"He's an experimental support unit we made for you." Middy said.

Curiosity set in. "What does he do?"

"We'll let you figure that out." Techno answered. Thanks. Good to know that my team actually supports me.

"We call him a Threat Assessment and Neutralization Geared Ocelot, though if you want to give him a more formal name, you can."

I thought about it for a moment. First off, I had no idea the little-big guy was an Ocelot. That made things cool, since he was mine after all. 'Threat Assessment and Neutralization Geared Ocelot' also made for a very strange name. Wait...T-A-N-G-O...that's his name-o!

"Tango." I said. The twins looked at me oddly. "That'll be his name."

Middy smiled. "I like it." Tango strolled over to me and circled my feet a couple of times. I picked him up and looked him in the eyes.

"What do you think?" I asked him. "Do you like that name?" He looked at me from a moment before flicking his tongue across the tip of my nose. I giggled again.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"So, do you like him?" Techno asked.

"I love him." I said. "He reminds me of the cat my brother and I-" I stopped. Memories started to flow into my mind. Tears started to form in my eyes as they did. I didn't want to think about them. They hurt too much.

Middy placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you alright?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. "Oh...yeah...I'm fine."

The twins traded looks again, this time sharing concern with one another. Techno looked like he wanted to say something, but Middy shook his head. "If you say so."

I held Tango close to me. He seemed to like me, because he nuzzled his head into my neck. My phone chose that particular moment to remind me that I somehow got it back after getting the boot for the day and Mom didn't take it away from me. It rang rather loudly. I fished it out of my pocket and answered it.

"Hello?"

"_You still alive?_" A familiar voice asked.

"Barely." I answered. "Mom tried to kill me when she heard about the fight."

"_I can imagine._" Ibuki said. "_I got a serious scolding just for helping you out_."

"Ouch. So what's up?"

"_Think you can meet me at the mall in a few minutes? I need some new clothes and I don't feel like shopping alone_."

"Sure." I looked down to the Ocelot sitting in my arm. "I've got something to show you, anyway. See you in a few."

"_Alright then. Bye."_

"Bye." I hung up and noticed the looks the twins were giving me. "My best friend. She wants me to meet her at our mall in a little bit."

"We'll send you." Middy quickly volunteered. I scratched my temple a bit.

"Uh...I don't think that's a good idea."

"Don't worry about it. We'll touch you down in a spot where nobody'll see you."

"That's not what I'm worried about." I said, readjusting my arms to support Tango better. "It's this little guy."

"Don't worry." Techno quipped. "As long as you keep him with you, you'll be fine. More than one person can ride a Trans Server at once safely."

"Okay then. If you're sure about it." I said worriedly. I wasn't quite as convinced as the twins were. Middy raced over to a nearby computer and typed in a few commands. Before I knew it, that familiar tingling set in. Apparently, animals, Mechaniloid or otherwise, get the same feeling, because Tango perked up, his ears straightening up as much as possible.

Get ready, Tango. You're about to go on what I call the best ride of a person's life.


	15. Episode 4: Part 3

Tango and I landed in a random alleyway. I didn't quite enjoy the spot I'd been set down in, but the Ocelot in my arms didn't seem to mind too much. I suppose it was because when we landed, I ended up sitting down on a garbage compactor and Tango immediately eyed a nearby bio-mouse.

It kinda felt like something out of a cartoon.

Thankfully, the compactor I sat on wasn't full of trash, so I didn't have to worry about getting my clothes stained or smelly. Tango and the mouse entered into a staring contest into one another, daring each other to make the first move. I decided that, rather than a bio-mouse or an Ocelot take the initiative, I should be the one to do it.

"Tango!" I snapped, getting the cat's attention. The mouse took the chance to make its escape. "Come on. We've got somewhere we need to be."

Tango's ears dropped slightly as he turned back to where the bio-mouse used to be. I could hear a slight growl of disappointment come from him as he turned back. I couldn't help but pout slightly and bend over to place a light kiss on the top of his head.

"Look," I said. "We're going to a mall. I'll get you some fish while we're there, okay?"

He, being a Mechaniloid Ocelot, couldn't answer me verbally, but a slight bob of his head seemed like he was saying yes. One last look back to where the mouse was, and we were on our way. After a couple of steps, Tango opted to be lazy and climb up onto my shoulders. It kinda caught me by surprise. Despite his size, which I'd guess he's about a foot and a half tall and about 20 pounds, he was pretty light. He wasn't very big, but that sat very well with me.

Middy planted us a few blocks away from the mall. I have a love-hate relationship with Middy's Trans Server aim. I love the fact that he knows where to drop me off so that I could arrive on the scene without arousing suspicion from anyone, but I hate the fact that where _exactly_ he places me would make me look comical to anyone who'd notice.

The Giga City Shopping Arcade is pretty big. It's nearly a square mile filled with shops that cater to just about every interest one could possibly think of. Sure, it's got its fair share of clothing shops, but it's also got a few electronics stores, a couple of bookstores, a nice food court with around fifteen different options, a couple candy shops and a few stores that carry other kinds of random stuff. It's a good place to go if you're either looking to expand a collection or two or if you've got some time you need to kill.

Which reminded me, Mom was going to tear me apart when I got home.

I didn't think about that, though. I just made my way through the parking lot as we approached the building. Most of the traffic was flowing into the mall, so I didn't have a hard time getting through. I scanned the over the cars, looking for my friend-slash-rival. I looked to the cat resting on my shoulders, who was also looking over the crowd.

"Can you see Ibuki anywhere?" I asked. Tango looked at me oddly. "Oh. Right. You don't know her yet."

I continued looking around, hoping that I could find some sign of her. I just didn't want to have to circle the entire building to try and find her. My prayers were answered when I saw a familiar head of black hair sitting underneath a tree just outside a set of doors that led into the mall. In contrast to the Academy uniform or to the rather unusual ninja outfit, she wore a white T-shirt with blue flower prints and blue jeans with blue sneakers. Smiling with relief, I made my way toward her. Once I got close enough, Tango leaped off of my shoulders and made his way up the tree. Ibuki, being the ever-aware ninja that she was, looked up to see the Ocelot settle himself on a branch.

"Huh," I heard her say. "You don't see that everyday."

"Nope." I said, forcing her to swing her head around to look at me.

"Yo." She said as she picked her hand up as a greeting. "Is that big guy what you wanted to show me?"

A huge grin grew spread itself across my face. "Yep. His name's Tango."

"Tango? Kind of an odd name, don't you think?"

Tango decided to let Ibuki know what he felt about her opinion on his name. He jumped down from the tree, catching us both off guard as he landed easily on Ibuki's shoulders. He then looked into her eyes for a moment before batting her nose a couple of times with a paw.

I giggled as she wrinkled her nose. "I guess he doesn't agree with you."

"Guess not." Ibuki hefted Tango off of her shoulders and eyed him up and down. "What kind of a cat is he?"

"An Ocelot." I said, beaming a bit.

Ibuki raised an eyebrow. "How'd you score an Ocelot?"

"I have my sources. Now, what did you need to go shopping for?"

"Oh, right." Ibuki set Tango down, picked herself up and brushed some dirt off of her jeans. "Well, I need a few more outfits and..." She eyed me up and down. "Judging by the way _you_ look, you'll need a few more things as well."

I looked down. I had on a simple yellow T-shirt with blue jeans and light blue sneakers. I raised any eyebrow.

"What's wrong with my clothes?"

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "You were wearing that a few days ago."

"It's clean!"

"So? You need more clothes, and I'm not going to get off your case about it until you get some."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Let's go." With that, the two of us making our way toward the doors with Tango following not too far behind. Before we got too far, Ibuki stopped and looked down to him.

"Uh..." She said, scratching her temple. "Can we bring him into the mall?"

At that moment, a snake-like Psedoroid passed by us, going through the doors with no problems. I thumbed in their general direction.

"If he can get in easily, then Tango shouldn't have any problems."

That was good enough for Ibuki. She just shrugged and we went in without too much issue.

The main problem turned out not to be Tango, an animal entering the mall, but Ibuki's hidden knives setting off a security alarm. I rolled my eyes while she unwillingly handed over her weapons.

"Why did you bring those with you?" I asked. Ibuki tapped the top of her head with a fist.

"I forgot I had them."

* * *

A couple hours later, Ibuki and I strolled down a hallway with Tango hitching a ride on my shoulders, both of us thankful that there wasn't a bad crowd around us. Ibuki's arms were lined with bags, containing clothes and shoes from the various shops we'd visited. I, on the other hand, wasn't quite as keen on spending all of my money in stores that didn't really cater to my interests. I only had a single bag with me, containing the three pairs of rubber flip flops I bought from one of the shoe stores we visited.

"You know," Ibuki said as she glared at the lone bag in my hand. "When I said you needed to buy something, I was thinking more along the lines of an outfit you'd wear outside of school."

I scoffed at her statement. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had to spend money I don't have to buy things for myself and neglect my new companion, here." Tango meowed as a sign of agreement.

"Money you don't have? Isn't your family loaded?"

"Meh," I shrugged. "We do alright."

"Then you're stingy."

"No, I just don't like spending a whole lot when I don't need to."

Ibuki shrugged. "Whatever."

My phone chose that particular moment to ring. Pulling it from my pocket, I hoped as hard as I possibly could that it wasn't the person I thought it was. I looked at the Caller ID.

'_Blocked_'. Wonderful.

I hesitated for a second before finally answering. "Hello?"

"_Iris_!" Great. I get to yank the phone away from my ear again and look stupid in front of my best friend.

'Mom'? She mouthed so that the person on the other end couldn't hear her. I nodded my head.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"_Big problem_!" Middy said. "_We're picking up a major energy reading near your location_. _We think it might be a Maverick_."

I had to word my responses carefully. I didn't want to put everything out there. "Are you sure?"

"_Yes_. _They're close by, from what I can tell_-"

I didn't hear the end of Middy's sentence. Before either Ibuki or I knew it, a huge air wave slammed us hard and sent everyone in the hall flying. Glass windows from the shops around us shattered into millions of pieces, spraying everywhere they could possibly reach. Displays and shelves were either knocked over or destroyed, damaging whatever unlucky items were in the wrong places at the time. Moments passed as everyone slowly picked themselves up. I dragged myself up to my feet, my ears ringing intensely. I couldn't hear a thing; everything sounded like I was underwater.

I groggily brought the phone back up to my ear. "I'll call you back." I said before hanging up and stuffing the thing back into my pocket. Ibuki pulled herself up next to me. Tango was nowhere to be seen. My hearing returned to normal rather quickly, thankfully.

"What was that?" She asked, rubbing her head. I looked around to see how bad things were. Luckily enough, it didn't look like anyone had been seriously hurt. My eyes scanned the area further before finally falling on what I could only assume to be the source of the air wave. A yellow lizard-like Reploid with purple stripes down his back slowly stalked down the hall. His chest panels were open, revealing a deceptively powerful speaker. His tail, which would normally have been at the back of his body, was cradled in one hand while a set of thin energy lines ran from the open end of his tail to where it belonged. Narrow blue eyes surveyed the damage while a proud smile crossed his face.

"Bad news." I finally answered.

"Ooh-hoo-hoo!" The lizard laughed at what he saw. "A little out of tune, but it's nothing a quick adjustment can't fix."

The bystanders that were caught in the blast began running as soon as they were able. I don't blame them. If I wasn't who I am, or if I didn't _know_, I'd have made a run for it too.

"Aww, scared already?" The Reploid sneered. His voice sounded like a mix of nails in a hyper-dryer and nails on a digital whiteboard. It grated and scratched a lot.

Ibuki placed her hand on my shoulder. "We should leave too." She said. "I'm not interested in getting myself caught in something I have no business in. The village elders would hang me out to dry."

I couldn't just run, though. I _am _supposed to be a Maverick Hunter, after all. And this guy looked like he was up for a thorough beating. I looked around, wondering where Tango went. Not finding him, I turned to her.

"You go." I said. "I've gotta find Tango. I'll catch up with you later." It wasn't a _complete_ lie. I _was_ looking for Tango, and I _was_ going to meet her later on. I just didn't tell her about how I planned on using the Maverick in front of us to clean up the mess he made. Ibuki stared at me for a moment before wordlessly nodding. Grabbing the bag out of my hand, she started toward an exit.

Once she was comfortably out of sight, I turned back to the yellow lizard. Alright. Time to do some work.

"Hey!" I shouted, causing the lizard to snap his head in my direction. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Who, me?" He asked. "Just causing a little mayhem and mischief, that's all."

I put my hands on my hips. "'That's all', huh? Couldn't you do this in a desert, where there isn't anything you could really damage?"

He shrugged. "Meh, not really. Music is something that should be enjoyed by all, you know? It's an expression of one's feelings that everyone should be able to take in."

"Music? Is that what that was?" I looked around, scanning for both Tango and an idea how much damage this guy did. This was gonna take tons of Zenny to get cleaned up. "Looks to me like you're a little tone deaf. Good music doesn't shatter windows. Unless, of course, it's obnoxiously loud."

If this guy had eyebrows, they probably would have twitched at that point. "Tone deaf? I'll have you know, little brat, that I'm a roadie for one of the best musicians of all time!"

A sly smile crossed my face. "If that's the case, I probably wouldn't have attended a concert if you'd payed me to go."

"Do you know who you're talking to, you little brat?"

"An overgrown snake snack?"

That, apparently, was the last straw. The lizard ran his fingers against the energy lines, strumming them like guitar strings. The speaker on his chest boomed with a horrid screech as I felt myself being slammed with another air wave. This one wasn't as strong as the last one, but it was strong enough to knock me on my backside.

"I am Sonic Saurion, the 'Sound of Pure Terror'!"

I stood back up, dusting myself off a bit "You know, you don't get to call yourself a nickname you made up yourself."

"Sh-sh-shut up! I can call myself whatever I want!" I flinched. Geez, this guy was _pathetic._

I looked around, making sure nobody was around. Nope. Good. "Alright then. I think I'm gonna shut you up for your own good. Hunter Form, Power Up!" Thumbing the button on my watch, I smiled as my armor melted over my skin. The lizard's eyes grew at the sight.

"Well, well. What a surprise." He said, not making any effort to hide said shock. "And what do you call yourself?"

"My name's Zero."

"'Zero'? As in the Resistance Army soldier?"

My eyebrow twitched under my helmet as my facemask formed over my mouth. "He was a General, you jerk. Take a history class. Now then, enough talk." I drew one of my Z-Blades and crouched into a fighting stance.

"Meh," He shrugged. "I'm not much of a fighter. I'm _especially_ not interested in some wannabe 'Zero' that doesn't even look remotely like the real thing." Another twitch. "My friends here, though..." With a snap of his fingers, a set of Mavericks teleported in all around him.

They all looked the same: humanoid shape with blue armor and black criss-crossed streaks. Red eyes glowed underneath nearly fully covered faces, while their fingertips ended in points that were closer to claws than they were to fingers. Now I knew how they got there; this guy was in good with someone who had a Trans Server.

I crouched down a little lower. A quick count, which I don't think was right because they kept moving around in erratic patterns, said there were around fifteen or twenty of those guys. Twenty on one? Sounds like a test to me.

I smiled under my facemask. "I don't care how many people you call. I'll take you all down! Come on!" With that, I charged forward. The Mavericks Saruion summoned stopped their erratic running and charged me. We met somewhere in the middle.

The first one leaped into the air, pulling a hand back. I didn't give him the chance to attack as I quickly sliced it across the chest while it was still in midair. The rest circled me in caution. A couple of them moved in and slashed at me. I stepped back, which forced them to miss, and gave them a couple quick slashes each. They fell in a shower of sparks and steel. One I didn't see raked its claws hard against my back, forcing me to stumble forward to a small spray of sparks. As I did, yet _another_ swept my legs out from under me, dropping me to the ground.

I've got to remember that I'm not fighting one at a time.

Thinking quickly, I rolled along the ground. Good thing, too, because several sets of claws jabbed into the spots I used to be. I pulled my other Z-Blade from its hilt and sprang up to my feet. I ran into the crowd, swinging my swords and catching a few Mavericks in their chests. Running, though, turned out to be a mistake because one that was still standing threw a roundhouse kick that caught me in the face. I stumbled backwards into a frenzy of claws and sparks. I cried out in pain as slash after slash after slash raked across my armor.

I didn't quite understand that. How could I be wearing armor, yet still feel a hit as though I wasn't wearing anything at all?

I could hear Saurion cackling like a madman away from the mauling. "That's it! Beat her like an egg! I want to hear her screaming in pain and terror!"

The assault continued. Claws scraped and scratched at me. Not caring who or what was in my way, I just started swinging my swords at random. Several of the Mavericks went down, leaving only a four or five standing. Once I cleared some space, I stumbled out of the pack and dropped to a knee. I gasped for breath, pain washing all over my body. My hair fell in front of me, and I noticed that the color had faded. I raised an eyebrow, but that was something that was going to have to wait until later. Before I could stand up fully, one of the Mavericks still standing stomped me hard in the back. The hit sent me stumbling forward, forcing me to slam headfirst into the nearest wall. I groaned in agony as I rolled over and slid down the wall.

"I need help..." I whispered as the Mavericks closed in on my fallen form. "Someone, help me..." Everything faded in and out, black threatening to take my vision over. "Please..." The machines inched closer and closer, clawed hands ready to finish what they'd started.

A huge roar erupted out of nowhere, catching _all_ of us by surprise. A huge green flash flew from one of the destroyed stores, slamming hard into the Mavericks. The blur flew back and forth, shredding the machines in a massive spark shower. Once they were down, the blur stopped in front of me, revealing an irate mass of green fur, claws and fangs.

"Tango...?" He didn't hear me. He was zoned in on Saurion. The lizard was clearly not too keen on the way Tango was staring him down. He took a couple backpedaling steps, shaking as he did.

"Er...n-n-nice kitty..." Saurion stammered. Tango let loose another huge roar before his ears turned toward Saurion. A yellow glow slowly grew in each ear as energy built up in the Ocelot's body. "This isn't gonna end well..."

To prove him right, the lights in Tango's ears flashed, firing energy beams at Saurion. The beams landed all around him, sparks and flames creating a ring of intense heat. Saurion tried to dance around the shots while Tango unloaded on him. A couple of seconds later, the attacks died down.

"That's it!" Saurion screamed before strumming his energy lines as hard as he possibly could. The speaker in his chest released a massive sound wave that slammed Tango up against the wall and nearly crushed me against it. I cringed in pain for a moment, squeezing my eyes tightly. I opened them a moment later, gasping for breath. There wasn't any sign of the lizard Pseudoroid anywhere. I looked around for a minute, but I didn't see anything that even resembled him.

I leaned up against the wall and released a deep sigh. It was over, for now. Tango stood up, looking around alertly. Once he confirmed that Sonic Saurion wasn't there, he walked up to me and nuzzled against my cheek.

I smiled sadly as Tango's fur brushed up against me. I embraced the Ocelot as a feeling of disappointment washed over me. I couldn't believe what happened. I got my butt thoroughly handed to me for the second time in twenty-four hours. I lost sight of a Maverick that caused tons of damage in a public location, and I almost got ghosted and had to be bailed out by a cat, no offense to Tango. This was unbelievable. It was just a bad day through and through. Could it have gotten any worse?

"Iris?"

My head snapped up. Today definitely wasn't my day.


	16. Episode 4: Final

How many times is that? Three? I think that was it. Three times over the course of less than a week. Three times I've wanted to disappear into nothingness. Three times I wished the world would come to an end right then and there.

Three times I wished there was _some_ way I could get away from the absolutely _hateful_ glare my mother was capable of producing.

Somehow, she'd popped up on the scene right after Sonic Saurion escaped without a trace

'On the scene'? I've been hanging out with Ibuki for _far _too long.

I shrank back against the wall Saurion slammed me against. What was Mom doing there anyway? Wasn't she supposed to be home making dinner, like she was when I left? Tango seemed kinda taken aback, too. He ran up and curled on my shoulders in fear.

"Uh..." Intelligence sparked through my thought process. "...hi?"

Mom tapped her foot impatiently, glass crackling under her shoe as she did. Her eyes were shut in disappointment with her arms crossed over her chest, as I'm pretty sure she was having trouble deciding which of the many forms of torture she wanted to use in order to make me regret ever having come here in the first place. And let's not forget, she led an entire army during a war. She knows a thing or two about torture, I'm sure.

"So..." She said, surprisingly calm. "What happened here?"

"I...don't know..." I hung my head. "Some Maverick attacked out of nowhere. I thought I could take him, but he had backup."

Mom, with her eyes still closed, scrunched her face in confusion. "Backup?"

"These Mavericks came in late and mauled me. I took a few down, but there were too many for me to handle alone."

"I see. And what's with the cat?"

I looked Tango in the eye. He seemed to relax a little. "This is what-er-who Middy wanted to show me. His name's Tango. He's a support Mechaniloid that the twins developed for me."

Tango hissed slightly and swung a paw at my nose. I forgot that he didn't like the "M-word."

I lightly tapped him on the nose. "If it wasn't for him, things might not've gone well for me."

"I see. Now, to my next question." Her eyes opened to reveal a harsher glare than she had a moment before. "What, exactly, were you doing here in the first place?"

I rubbed a finger across my helmet. "Uh...well...you see..."

"Uh...well...I see what, exactly?"

Great. She's repeating me again. She only did that when she was _really_ mad.

"I, uh, had to pick some stuff up."

"Stuff like what, exactly?" Her finger tapped the inside of her arm repeatedly. "And make sure it's good."

Tango meowed. I pointed to him. "We needed stuff for him. We can't have an Ocelot in the house and not have the stuff we need to take care of him."

"And I'd like to know who told you it was okay for you to take in a cat to begin with."

"Ocelot."

Her foot tapped a little harder. "I'll let you know when I need you to correct me."

"Sorry..." Nobody spoke for a few moments. An awkward silence filled the air, as Mom shifted her weight on her feet. Tango nuzzled himself into my neck, while thoughts about the last few minutes ran through my head. Scanning the ground, I picked up a random piece of metal and ran it between my fingers.

Where did things go wrong, exactly? I didn't think the guy was going to be much of a threat, considering the blatant idiot act he was putting on. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was the fact that the idea that he might have backup never occurred to me. After all, Amarillo Archon didn't have anyone helping _her_ when I beat her. I wasn't used to fighting off more than one person at a time, so that could've been it. After all, training can only do so much for you. You can't exactly prepare for a mob of rather generic-looking Mavericks intent on tearing you to pieces.

Maybe...it was because of how weak I felt once said Mavericks were all over me. I knew I could handle those things. I knew that those things were nowhere near as big of a threat on their own as Archon or maybe Saurion. Even when they were tearing into me, I felt like I could get back in control at any time and show them what I could do. But, something inside of me clicked. Normally, that wouldn't be a bad thing, since I could usually become a fiercer fighter. Not this time, though. For some reason, I felt like I was powerless. Like I was in over my head. Like I had no business fighting Mavericks in the first place.

Maybe I didn't. Maybe I should just go back to my room and lock myself in for the rest of my life.

"And what, exactly, would that solve?" Mom asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Apparently, my mouth ran without my brain's consent again.

"Uh...well..." I couldn't exactly answer her. How _do_ you answer a question like that, anyway? Mom sighed before visibly relaxing. She knelt down next to me and placed a hand on my armored shoulder.

"Look, let's just get you two home. We'll figure out what to do after dinner." With that, Mom offered me a hand up, which I took. Tango latched himself onto my shoulders as I rose. Once on my feet, I thumbed the button on my left wrist, causing my armor to disappear in a blinding flash. Mom started toward an exit as I slid the metal piece into my pocket. I tried to follow her, but my head decided it wanted to pulse in pain and dizziness and make me stumble around a bit. I clutched my head to try and fight off the agony. An arm wrapped itself around my shoulders.

"Take it easy." Mom said. "You banged your head pretty hard against that wall."

"You...saw that?" I asked, groaning.

"I was watching the whole time." The two of us slowly walked toward the nearest door. Tango hopped off of my shoulders and walked alongside the two of us.

"If you were watching, then why did you grill me?"

Mom smiled. "I wanted to see if you would tell me what you were up to. When did you plan on telling me you bought some shoes?"

I would've done a double take, but my head was killing me as it was and I didn't want to risk causing myself any more agony. "So you don't trust me."

"It's not that, but it _would_ be nice if you kept your word. Trust and reliability_ are_ two traits that Maverick Hunters need to do the job properly."

Right. I'll keep that in mind. Right after I ask someone to add a compartment to my armor solely for headache medicine.

Wait, shoes? Oh!

"Ibuki still has my flip flops." I said as we stepped through a glass sliding door. Mom tightened her grip on my shoulders.

"We'll get them later. For now, we just need to get you some headache medicine and to bed." She was right. Why was I worrying about flip flops to begin with? The priority at this point was figuring out how to get rid of this pounding headache, which I was pretty sure was turning into a migraine.

* * *

I couldn't eat. There was no way I could even try. The pounding in my head thanks the pounding I got from Sonic Saurion and his goons made it impossible for me to even want to try and chew _anything_. Instead, I ended up taking a dose of migraine medication and laying down on my bed. I rubbed my eyes a little, trying to fight off what remained of the cranial agony I'd suffered. I had the light in my room off so that it wouldn't make things worse. Thankfully, it wasn't completely dark out, so the setting sun still lit my room slightly.

I pulled the metal piece from my pocket and began playing with it again. The thoughts I had when Mom met me at the mall ran through my head again. That feeling of weakness that washed over me from out of nowhere found its way into my mind again. Tango, who Mom allowed to stay in the house with us provided I was the one who took care of him, leaped from the floor onto my bed and nestled himself on top of me. Chills ran down my spine as I thought of what could've happened to me. If it weren't for the little guy that decided to make my stomach his bed, I probably wouldn't be here right now.

I scratched the back of his head, earning a few purrs of delight from the Ocelot.

"Thanks, Tango." I said quietly. I wasn't sure if he'd heard me. He picked up his head and meowed. I guess he did. "I guess I owe you a few more pieces of fish, don't I?" Another meow. I laughed slightly as a knock came from my door.

"Iris?" Dad's voice came from the other side. As per usual, he opted to respect my privacy by knocking but asserting himself as a parent by entering anyway.

"Hey, Dad." I said absently. I was more concerned with making my new friend-slash-pet-slash-support unit more comfortable as he lay on me.

"Your mother told me what happened today." He said as he sat himself next to me on my bed. "Everything okay?"

I hesitated for a moment before answering. "Not really. I don't know what happened. I thought I could handle what seemed like an idiotic Maverick. I charged him and next thing I knew, I'm surrounded and scared." Tears started to form in my eyes. I hate being scared.

Dad could see the way I felt. He knew how much I didn't like being scared. "That's good." He said. I gave him a confused look.

"What does that mean?" I asked, wiping the excess moisture from my eyes.

"Well, it'd be a bad thing if you weren't scared. Being fearless is more dangerous than having fear."

"I still don't get it." I said as I continued to scratch away at the back of Tango's neck.

Dad adjusted himself on my bed. "Being fearless can make you sloppy. You can take unnecessary risks that could get you seriously hurt, or worse. If you're scared, then you'll think about what you're going to do before you actually do it."

"I hate being scared."

"Who doesn't? But, it _is_ necessary in this business."

I scoffed. "I bet you weren't scared in the War."

He returned the scoff. "No, I wasn't. I was terrified." That caught me off guard. The great Zero? Terrified? "Your mother was a good reason for me to be scared. I constantly worried over her safety and well-being. As much of the world as she placed on her shoulders during the Cyber Elf War, she was constantly under intense pressure to lead an army as well as create a new source of energy for Reploids."

"Yeah," I said. "I guess that _would_ be a lot for one person to take."

Dad nodded. "As a teenager, no less. I always kept my eye on her, praying nothing serious would happen to her. I hated leaving our base, because it meant that not only could the army be attacked at any time while I was gone, but it also meant that I couldn't make sure your mother was safe."

I thought about what he was saying. I couldn't believe that a hero to the entire world would've been afraid of _anything_. Then again, he _did_ marry the person who saved the world in ways other than fighting, so I suppose it wasn't exactly out of the question. Dad, who was watching me think, smiled before leaning over and planting a small kiss on my forehead.

"Feeling better?" He asked. Again, I contemplated my current situation. He somehow _did_ make me feel better. I guess I just needed someone to help put things into perspective. It was kind of odd for Dad to tell me that he got scared when everything I'd found about him said pretty much otherwise.

I nodded. "Yeah, thanks." Dad gave me another kiss before getting up. Without another word, he left me in my room to my thoughts. The sun outside had nearly completely set, making it difficult to see anything. Picking Tango up, I got up and made my way to the wall with the light switch on it. As soon as I slid my finger across it, my phone began to ring. I fished it out of my pocket and answered without checking who was calling.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Eye._" I probably should've looked. That way, that particular greeting wouldn't have irked me.

"I believe we went over you calling me that, Ibuki." I said, irritation lacing my words.

"_Yeah, yeah. You alright?_" Even through sarcasm, that girl always seemed to be concerned about her friends.

"Yeah, just a massive headache." It wasn't far from the truth, but I figured she'd assume I got a few cuts from the flying glass that resulted from Saurion's first attack.

"_I know. I had to fight one off for the last couple of hours. Did you manage to find Tempo?_"

I rolled my eyes. "Tango. Yeah, I found him. He was buried under a bunch of stuff." Tango perked up. It wasn't a complete lie. He _was_ buried after all.

"_That's good. At least you're both alright. Pretty weird how that guy just blew stuff up all of a sudden, wasn't it?_"

I thought about my reply. "Not really. The news said, the other day, that Maverick Attacks were becoming more and more common. Giga City is kinda large, so it makes sense that they'd hit us a couple times."

"_I guess. Things could be weirder, I suppose_."

"How so?" I asked as I started to play with the small piece of metal again.

"_I dunno. Your dad could be a hero, I guess._" I nearly gagged on my saliva. She didn't have my house bugged, did she?

"What do you mean?" I tried to hide the nervousness in my voice.

"_I dunno. He could be some kind of interdimensional traveler who ended up in a high school with a psychic, a time traveler, an alien or two, God and the one guy who manages to keep it all together._"

Nope. She didn't. "I think you've been watching too much TV, chick." I said as I turned the metal between my fingers. My brows furrowed as I noticed a detail on the metal that I hadn't seen before. A small mark was painted onto the metal.

"_Maybe. At least we made it out alright. Oh, did your mom get your shoes to you?_" I squinted so that I could see the mark more clearly. It was a pair of blue letters. A "B" and an "I." I new what that meant.

"Yeah. Hey, do you think we could talk later? Something important just came up."

I could picture Ibuki's face twisting a bit in confusion. "_Sure. See you later, Iris._" She hung up before I could respond, not that I was going to. As soon as I hung up, I grabbed Tango rather harshly and raced downstairs. Mom and Dad were in the living room, leaning against each other while watching TV.

"Hey," I said, startling them both. "I need you guys to do me a favor."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Try asking nicely."

I rolled my own. "Can you guys do me a favor?"

"What is it?" Dad asked.

"I need to go somewhere in a hurry." I said. I whispered the magic words as I thumbed my watch. My armor melted over me again. Mom and Dad exchanged confused looks before climbing off the couch.

"Where you do you need to go?" Mom asked.

"Berkana Industries." I said.

* * *

Moments later, Tango and I found ourselves just outside of the building in question. Looking around, I noticed that the nighttime security detail was pretty sparse. One could sneak in through the front gates, do whatever it was they wanted, and get out without much interference. Which was good, because I didn't need someone bothering me while I did what I needed to do. A beeping sound rang in my ears. I brought a hand up to my helmet and thumbed the hidden button on the side.

"_Iris, can you hear me_?" Mom asked over the radio in my helmet.

"Yeah," I answered. "Tango and I made it safely."

"Good." Dad said. "_According to the layout, the office you're looking for is on the 50th floor_." I looked up, my eyes tracing along the side of the building. My eyebrow twitched.

"Great. I just have to climb _fifty floors_ to get to the CEO's office." I said sarcastically.

"_Good luck_." Mom said before cutting off the communication line. I brought my hand up to my forehead as I looked at Tango.

"So, do you know how I can get up there rather quickly?" I asked him, not expecting him to answer.

Tango meowed before crouching low. I thought he was going to suggest that I jump up, which woudn't have gotten me nearly close to where I needed to go. Instead, his legs tucked into his body. His frame, from the neck down, split down the middle and separated, remaining connected to his head through cables. His body hovered over mine with each half above each of my shoulders. The halves covered my shoulders, fitting snugly over my armor. His head settled itself over my chest as his entire color scheme changed to fit my armor's. Small jets exposed themselves from underneath Tango's hind legs.

"Huh." I said as the transformation process came to an end. "This is cool. Why didn't you do this earlier?" A rather harsh meow sounded off in my head. Clearly, he wasn't too thrilled about me questioning him.

I crouched down low, hesitated for a moment, and pushed off against the ground as hard as I could. Just as I reached the peak of my leap, the jets on my back kicked in and propelled me further upward. I smiled as I rose. We didn't move too quickly. The pressure I felt as I flew upward wasn't too overbearing, meaning I could keep an eye out for the office I was looking for.

It didn't take too long to get to the proper floor. The hard part was figuring out which office I needed to get into. Tango and I circled the building a couple of times before I finally just picked a room with an open window. The lights in the room were off as I landed on the carpeted floor. I tapped Tango on the nose.

"Go ahead and take off." I said to him. "I'll catch up when I'm done." Tango meowed, acknowledging the order. He detached himself from my armor and returned to his normal form. He nuzzled himself against my leg for a second before leaping out of the open window. I walked up to the nearest wall and leaned up against it, crossing my arms against. At that point, I could only hope that I picked the right office.

A couple minutes later, my hopes were answered. A familiar blond teenager entered the room, sliding her finger on the light switch as she did. Berkana was dressed in her white tae kwon do uniform with a towel draped around her shoulders. One end was held in one hand as she wiped away some sweat from her head.

Huh. She actually works hard enough to sweat. Who knew?

"Well," She said to nobody in particular. "That was a good workout." She stopped suddenly in her tracks, taking note of the fact that I was leaned up against her wall. Her eyes narrowed as they scanned my armored form.

"Evening, Ms. Berkana." I said as cooly as possible. She may not recognize me, but her mere presence still managed to irritate the living daylights out of me. Berkana maintained her look of irritation for a moment before that smirk that I hate so much found its way across her lips.

"Well, well." She said as she slowly strolled over to the rather large desk in the middle of the room. "It would appear that you are aware of who I am. But, you see, I am at a rather disadvantageous position."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you now?"

"Why, yes. You see, I stand at the apex of two mysteries. First, who are you? And second, how did you manage to get into my office?"

I smiled as I pushed myself off against the wall. "One, my name is Zero. Two, I have my ways, but I suggest you close your windows from now on. You never know what could come in, besides a draft, that is."

"I see." She sat in the chair behind her desk. I circled around and stood on the opposite side. "Well, I assume that you're here for a reason. Please, enlighten me."

"Alright. There was a Maverick attack at the Giga City Shopping Arcade earlier this afternoon."

A mock-shock expression popped up on Berkana's face. "You don't say." She pressed a button on the desk. A TV on the wall I was leaning against a minute before flickered on, showing a news broadcast covering the attack at the mall. "It _has_ been in the media spotlight for some time."

"Save the sarcasm, princess." I snapped. "I've got reason to believe that you or your family was involved in the attack."

"Oh? What evidence do you have?"

I pulled out the piece of metal that I picked up earlier and tossed it to Berkana. She caught the metal fragment rather easily. "That came off of one of the Mavericks in the attack. As you can see, it's got your family's company logo on it."

She examined the fragment for a moment. "So it does. But, that does not necessarily prove that anybody from this company was involved. It could be that one of the Mavericks was a patient of ours at one point and possessed one of our products."

My eyebrow twitched. I hadn't thought of that. I was so focused on nailing Berkana to the wall that I didn't consider that possibility. I didn't want her to know that.

"Maybe, but it's enough for me." I made my way to the window I entered the office through. "Watch your step, Ms. Berkana. I'll be watching." With that, I stepped out of the open window and harshly dropped over the edge. Before I could fall too far, thought, I reached out and caught the edge. I hoped that my black gauntlets were dark enough to hide the fact that I was still there.

A few moments of silence passed before I could hear the click of a button being pressed.

"Gareth," Berkana said, a little less calm than when I spoke to her. "Get in here, immediately."

Another quite moment passed. The door to Berkana's office slid open, hesitated, then closed. I would've pulled myself up for a look, but I didn't want to risk being seen myself.

"You called, Ma'am?" A rather burly voice seemingly growled. I wasn't sure if that was his normal voice or if he wasn't happy about being called in.

"Fire our entire security staff." Berkana hissed. "The entire incompetent lot allowed an intruder to enter my office without incident. That is unforgivable."

"As you wish." Gareth said.

"Also, find out what you can on this, 'Zero'."

"Any particular reason, Ma'am?"

"She knows. That idiot Saurion left evidence behind that connects us to the attack on the Shopping Arcade." I smirked. Gotcha. "She needs to be eliminated before she becomes a threat to my plans."

I had heard enough. I let go of the edge and plummeted toward the ground. Tango, who had been waiting a few floors down, leaped out, latched onto me and transformed into his jetpack form. A second later, the jets fired and slowed my descent until I eased onto the ground. Tango hopped off, and the two of us strolled back to the point where Mom planted us. My smirk grew as we walked. Now I had something _really juicy_ on her.

* * *

**Unorthodox reference in this chapter. This time, I'm alluding to a story on my Favorites List. If you can figure it out, I suggest giving the story a read. It's a _very_ good story, in my opinion.**


	17. Episode 5: Emergency!

**EMERGENCY!  
(PART 1)**

I love Saturday mornings.

There's no school. There are lots of TV shows to watch. There's no school. You can laze around all day until you decide to drag yourself out of bed. There's no school. And, on top of that, you don't have to see anyone you've established early on as someone you hate. Especially if that someone apparently wants the very city you live in leveled for some odd, strange and unknown reason.

Did I mention that there's no school?

Because there isn't. And I love that.

A blaring alarm, largely unwelcoming on most days, instead allowed to me to greet the day with a little less irritation than normal. I woke up early the morning after my crash course in spying on Berkana. Sure, it was a little late when I got home, but there's nothing in the world that'll keep me from missing the one thing that I look forward to every Saturday morning.

I slammed my hand down on my clock. Normally, a calm tap would be enough to stop an alarm clock from ringing at least long enough for you to turn the alarm off. My clock, however, had been abused so much that I _had_ to pound it, otherwise it simply wouldn't shut up.

Apparently, acting as a jetpack takes a lot of energy out of Tango, because I awoke to find him curled up on my stomach, sound asleep. I raised an eyebrow. He's supposed to be a Mechaniloid, isn't he? Why would he be tired? Oh well. I'd probably end up asking one of the twins about it later on. Smiling at the sight of Tango's peaceful slumber, I eased a hand out from under my bedsheets and gently scratched the back of his head. He scrunched his face as one of his ears twitched. I wasn't sure if he liked what I was doing, but I ended up waking him up. Tango looked at me for a second, let out a huge yawn, stretched for a second and crawled along my body until his nose gently rubbed up against mine.

I love cats.

Tango hopped off of me and down to the floor, giving me the chance to do the same. I gingerly walked downstairs to the kitchen, hoping not to wake Mom and Dad up. I hadn't told them what I heard Berkana tell her lackey yet, but that was only because I wanted to get up early for my TV show.

Nobody denies me my show. Nobody.

I opened our fridge, hoping to find something sustainable to eat. After all, I don't like getting up in the during my shows to try and fill up the holes in my stomach some of the weaker stuff leaves. Scanning the contents, I finally decided on a packet of pizza. Better than nothing, and it won't leave me still hungry. I popped it into our cookerator and set the timer. One minute later, my pizza was ready, and so was I.

For the record, that's actually what it's called. No joke. Stupid, but no joke.

Again, I light-stepped my way upstairs, trying not to wake my parents up. The last thing I need to is to upset Mom by waking her up so early in the morning. She's no morning person by _any_ stretch of the imagination and waking her up before she's ready to wake up on her own would make you wish the Cyber Elf War was still going on, that way a spontaneous explosion would end the terrifying moment more mercifully than Mom would. I recall the last time I 'rudely' woke her up. I ended up being tied to the top of our car while it, and by extension I, screamed down the nearest highway. While Mom and Dad were at home. And Dad was tied up so he couldn't help me.

Once I was in my room, I shut the door and locked it so I wouldn't be interrupted. Tango, who curled himself up on my bed, snapped up and moved over. I plopped myself down on my bed and reached for the TV remote. Pressing the power button, the TV flickered to life and flipped the channel to my favorite one. The show that aired before mine was just finishing, so I had a minute or two before things would get interesting. I checked the information on my favorite show and noticed something odd about it.

The title had changed. _Mega Man: Star Force_

"Huh," I half-said to Tango. "Must be time for the new season to start."

Tango turned his head to me and angled it off. I guessed that he was confused.

"My favorite show's starting a new season today, it looks like. We'll get to watch a new episode today. I wonder what it's going to be like. I guess as long as it was better than the third season of the series, it'll be good." Tango meowed, angling his head further. I waved my hand dismissively. "It was bad. I mean, the writers had a _lot_ to work with, and they had a pretty cool concept for the show. I mean, come on? Treasure hunters saving the world from destruction by its own moon? How could you _not_ do that right? Well, the company that made the show somehow pulled it off. They had _everything_ going for them. Lovable characters, massive robots, apocalyptic world, and even goofy little yellow robots! And it was somehow bad! Ugh..."

I ended my rant right there, because the show I had been waiting an entire ten minutes in total was about to begin. I slid up right next to Tango, who opted to crawl into my lap. With eager anticipation, I took a bite of my pizza and watched as the show's opening sequence began.

_Star Force!_

_Star Force!_

_Mega Man! Star Force!_

Rockin'.

_Racing to another time..._

_EM Transers are online..._

_Timeless wonders..._

_Fire and thunder..._

_Off to save the world..._

The sequence itself was pretty promising. The clips from various episodes in the series looked intriguing. There was a piece of a transformation sequence thrown in there that I _had _to see, just to make sure I didn't make it up. After all, how many transforming people merge with something that looked like a wolf?

Tango and I watched the show with interest. The episode itself started slowly, but that was a good thing. I could tell that the writers concentrated a lot on the story. An intergalactic fugitive making his way to Earth would seem like a stretch, but it was early on in the season and there was _plenty_ of time for everything to be explained.

About ten minutes after the show started, it took a commercial break. See, I'm not sure about how programming a long time ago worked, but the commercials that we have to put up with are extremely annoying. For instance, I do _not_ want to be told about how absolutely amazing some makeup product is, even _if_ multiple-award winning musical artist Sonia Strumm is the person promoting it.

Which made me think; why would a TV show have someone acting as Sonia as a kid in the first place? I thought those things were works of fiction?

Anyway, as soon as the commercial started, so did my phone. I made a mad dash for my closet to try and answer it before it woke up my parents. The last thing I wanted to do was upset...

Wait, I already explained all of that, didn't I?

I answered the phone, not bothering to look at the Caller ID before I did. I'm starting to wonder what the point of me having Caller ID was if I wasn't even going to look at it.

"Hello?"

"_Hey._" I rolled my eyes. Great. Ibuki. "_You're awake. Good._"

"Yeah, and in the middle of watching my show. What do you need? Make it quick." I didn't bother hiding my irritation either.

"_Yeah, 'good morning' to you too. Anyway, I'm calling to find out where you are._"

I sat down on my bed and scratched Tango on the back of his neck. "Why?"

"_Good grief, Iris. I can't believe that you weren't paying attention the day-and-a-half you were in school_!"

Another eye roll. "Well, it'd be nice if I knew _what_ I was supposed to be paying attention to, you know."

"_Our class was picked to have Weekend Athletics this week._"

I blank-blinked a couple of times. "Really?"

Every week, a class in our school is chosen to participate in a class that's held during the weekend. Most parents were concerned that we were really being taken to some remote island in the middle of nowhere where we'd be used as unwitting contestants in a game where we all have to fight one another for survival and the chance to get off said island. Thankfully, that was nowhere _near_ the case and it really _is_ just a class held at the Academy. There were three classes; one was a Mathematics class, another a Writing class, and the third was the Athletics class in question.

"_No, I'm lying so that I could pull a prank on you. Yes, really_!"

My eyes rolled for the third time that conversation. I'm going to need to tell this girl how sarcasm is supposed to work.

"_You can tell me some other time, Iris._" Ibuki snapped. Boy, was she upset. "_You better be there, or I'm gonna go to your house and drag you kicking and screaming._"

"Okay, okay. Geez." I stopped scratching Tango. "What time does class start, anyway?"

"_9:30._"

I looked at my clock. It was only 8:05. Good. I had time to finish my show before I had to get ready to go. "I'll be there. Don't worry about it."

"_Alright then._" Ibuki's tone picked up. Her emotions are on a switch, I guess. "_See you later_!"

"Bye." I took the opportunity to hang up before Ms. Hyde could show up again and sighed. So much for having a peaceful Saturday morning. At least I'd have time to finish my show, which was now starting up again. I finished my pizza and laid down on my stomach next to Tango. Said Ocelot climbed up onto my back and rested his own head against mine as we watched the show.

Twenty minutes later, the show came to an end before the transformation sequence I had been waiting to see was even aired. I turned over slightly so that Tango could get off. Once he bounded away, I got off myself and walked to my closet. I had to fish around a bit for my gym clothes. School had been in session for three days and I'd only worn them once. Work and a forced half-day off will do that for you.

Once I found them, I tiptoed my way over to the bathroom, turned on the sonic shower and stepped in. The last time I took a shower at home, I had to make it a quick one because of the bruises I'd developed in my first fight. This time, however, I was able to enjoy it a little more since I didn't have as bad of bruises than I had the first time. A few minutes later, I emerged and quickly dressed, hoping not to irk Ibuki any further than I somehow did when she called.

Seriously. She knows better than to try and interrupt me while I'm watching my Saturday show. If anything, _she_ should be mad at _herself_. After all, _I_ didn't make her call me, did I?

Didn't think so.

I slid my way down the stairs, keeping the whole 'quiet' thing going. Turns out that, upon seeing a recognizable head of shoulder-length blond hair on the couch with the TV on, I didn't need to. I could only hope that I wasn't the reason Mom was awake.

"Morning, Mom." I said as cheerfully as I possibly could. I wanted to try and avoid her morning wrath.

"Morning, Iris." Mom droned slightly. Looking over the couch, I could see a white porcelain cup in her hand with a steaming brown liquid inside. Good. She had her morning coffee in her hand, at least. "What are you doing up so early?"

I scratched my head in nervousness slightly. "I'm about to take off for school. My class got picked for Weekend Athletics this week."

Mom sat up slightly, her eyes more wide open than I expected. "I could drop you off if you want. It'd be an easy Trans Server or car ride."

I smiled as I walked toward the door. "As tempting as either of those sound, I kinda have to meet Ibuki on the way. Thanks anyway. I'll see you later."

"Bye. And don't get into another fight!"

I stumbled a bit. "Bye. I promise I won't start another one!" With that, I ran out of the house. I stopped outside the door for a second.

"Hey! I mean it...oh never mind." Mom said, apparently too tired to care too much at this point.

I looked at my morpher-slash-watch-slash-thingy and noted that I _still_ had time to spare before I actually needed to be at the school. At that point, I didn't feel like simply calling it a watch. After all, a spade is a spade until you hide some explosives in it. Then it becomes a bomb, and that's how I felt about having the "watch." Something explosive's hidden inside and, once I talk to Colonel Snow-Cap about getting a team together, it'll make for one huge bang.

Deciding not to take any risks with my leg, I walked at a _leisurely_ pace toward the Academy. I hoped I could run into Ibuki on the way and figure out what was wrong with her.

Little did I know how big of a change I would encounter.

**

* * *

For the record, I don't share Iris' opinion about the show, but that's she's referring to a TV show while I loved the games.**

**Now then, time for the trivia portion of our show. This time, three references are made here, one of which is a nod to my inspiration and is a bit more blunt than the first time. Take a stab or two, but leave one for Iris.  
**


	18. Episode 5: Part 2

My walk to the Academy brisked up a little bit. I didn't feel the need to hurry up and get to the school when I didn't want to be there, but I _do_ like to try and maintain my physical condition whenever I can. I work hard to be as fit as I am, thank you very much.

For the last couple of years, Ibuki and I have a little meeting spot we designated where either she'd wait for me, or I'd wait for her, depending on the situation. With the exception of the two days that I actually _managed_ to get to school this year, it's where we meet up whenever we go somewhere that doesn't require a car ride to get to. We changed it a little ever since we moved to the new house, but it wasn't that far away from where we used to go. It's about a block's difference, give or take my ability to judge distances.

I finally got to our meeting spot about twenty minutes after I left. I wasn't necessarily shocked to see that Ibuki wasn't anywhere to be seen. She _is_ a shadow-stalker, after all. A dreaded tree stands over where I was supposed to run into her. My pace slowed quite a bit. I wanted to take an opportunity to scan the tree for any signs of my ninja best friend.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A slight breeze blew through the area, rattling the leaves in the tree. None of their movements looked like they were hitting something or...something.

I hate repeating words like that. I also hate not being able to see through solid objects, but super-heroines can't have everything, I guess.

I stopped next to the tree and looked up, hoping she'd make herself rather obvious up there. Nope, no sign of her. Looking around, I started to become _very_ paranoid. Trust me, you _don't_ want to have a ninja angry at you. They can make you disappear without a trace, and make it look like you never existed to begin with. At least, the _bad_ ones can.

It was weird. There wasn't any sign of Ibuki _anywhere_. Checking my mortch (I was trying new names for it at the time), I noticed that I still had a good 45 minutes before I needed to be at the school for our Weekend Athletics class. I sighed deeply, hoped Ibuki wouldn't have some kind of evil plan in mind, leaned up against the tree and closed my eyes. I just hoped I wouldn't fall asleep there and end up with Ibuki leaving me behind and lecturing me later. It was only a couple of calm minutes later that I would learn my fate.

Well, not mine.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I didn't open my eyes, but I knew who it was trying to get my attention.

"Morning, Ibuki." I said.

"...good morning, Iris." She said rather dejectedly. Wait, what? 'Dejectedly'? She was _definitely_ a morning person. The only times she was ever really upset in the mornings was when she was running late. And even then, it wasn't so much 'upset' as it was 'rushed'. I opened my eyes and turned to see the source of the voice for the first time today.

What I saw caught me off guard. I was _totally_ not expecting to see what I saw.

"...wow." Great. My linguistic skills fail me yet again.

"...yeah." That was all _she_ had to say. She wasn't too thrilled about her huge change either.

This change was the very last thing I'd ever expected from her. Seriously. I thought she might've given up the ninja lifestyle, the one thing she cherishes so much, before _this_ ever happened. But, there I go, being proven wrong.

There, on her face, sat a thin piece of metal that stretched from the back of one ear to the back of the other, with two rectangular gaps on either side of her nose. Two pieces of specialized glass, one over each eye, sat in the openings in the metal. The metal itself was black, fitting her hair and eyes pretty well, actually.

I craned my neck. "When did you get glasses?"

Ibuki's eyes dropped a bit. "Last night. We had random physicals in the village and our optometrist decided I was near-sighted and needed these things."

"Well," I said as I brought a finger up to my chin. "This explains why you were so upset this morning."

A small tick developed on her forehead. "Sort of. You not paying attention in class had something to do with it, too."

"Oh, right. Well then, let's get going. Don't want to be late or anything, you know."

Ibuki scoffed. "Right. Not that you would've made it to class if I hadn't called you in the first place."

I waved my hand slowly in front of her. "Can you see any better with those on?"

"Well, yeah. Things at a distance are a bit clearer than they were before."

I smiled. "Well then? What's the big deal? If they help you see better, then I don't see a problem."

Ibuki shrank a bit. "Well..."

"Well...?" Great. I'm starting to take after my Mom.

"Look at me!" Ibuki cried as tears started to form. "What guy's gonna want to go out with a _blind_ girl?"

"Oh good grief." My hand involuntarily found its way up to my forehead. Not that I could blame it. If I was in control of it, I would've brought it up anyway. "_That's_ what your major issue is? You think your chances at finding a boyfriend are gonna go _down_ because of those?" Ibuki nodded slowly. "You're nuts."

"Why would any guy even _look_ at me now? I look like a nerd!"

I fought back the urge to point out the fact that she's a self-proclaimed "otaku." Seriously. I've seen her bedroom. There isn't a spot on any of her four walls that _doesn't_ have either a poster of some kind of video game or animated show, _or_ a shelf decorated with figures, holodiscs or novelty items. Instead, I decided that my hand needed to rub at my forehead a little.

"Ibuki, you can't be serious..."

"Nerdface!" She almost screamed before falling into a massive crying fit. She sank to her knees as tears formed miniature rivers down her cheeks. Deciding my hand wasn't getting rid of the impending headache fast enough, I opted to turn around and repeatedly thump my head against the trunk of the tree. Not too hard, though. I didn't want to damage my precious brain cells. I need those, you know.

I took a moment to hear her sobs a little more before finally deciding to do something about it. I knelt down next to my best friend and set a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Ibuki..." I said gently. Her sobs died down a bit as she looked at me. Tears continued to flow. Oh, I'd give her a reason to cry.

I lifted my hand, pulled it back and brought it around in what was quite possibly the hardest slap I'd ever delivered in my life. Ibuki's head snapped around at the impact. I couldn't see her face right off, but I'm almost positive she was completely shocked at what I did.

"You're insane! _Look_ at you! You're crying about something that doesn't even _matter_.! You should be more concerned with the fact that those things are helping you _see_, rather than thinking that boys wouldn't even look at you now!"

"But..."

"No 'buts'! Besides, they don't even look bad on you. If anything, I'd figure you look _better_ with them than without. They give you that 'intellectual' look without completely nerding you out."

Ibuki sniffled a little. "Really?"

I smiled. "Really. Now wipe away those tears and let's get to the school before we get in trouble." Ibuki didn't say anything, but nodded quietly and wiped a finger over her cheeks. I helped pick her up off the ground before the two of us started walking to the Academy. A minute or two later, Ibuki tapped on my shoulder. I looked at her to see the sly smile I'm accustomed to seeing on her face.

"See ya at the school." She said before jumping up a tree in a smooth motion. Before I could say anything, she bounded away, hopping along the roofs of the buildings that created her path. I could only stand there with my mouth open like an idiot.

"That's _so_ not fair." I grumbled, then started running toward the school.

* * *

Four thousand eight hundred thirty-one feet. That's the distance I had to sprint in order to get to the Academy. I stopped just outside the front gates and started panting for breath. Trying to keep up with a ninja is a lot more difficult than people would think. Not that they think it's easy or anything. I decided to make a quick check on my equipment. I flexed everything I could think to flex in my leg to make sure nothing was out of order.

...nope. Nothing's wrong. Everything worked just fine. Good. The last thing I needed was to have it break down while we were doing whatever it was we were going to do. Walking through the gate, I scanned the area to try and find my class. I figured that if we were doing Weekend Athletics, then we'd be outside. Sure enough, I saw a few people from my class standing around in one of the grass fields, nearby one of the most ridiculous things I'd ever thought I'd see on a school campus. It seemed like the kind of obstacle course you'd see on a military base, but several sections seemed more daunting than others. I jogged up to my classmates. Looking around, I noticed that Ibuki hadn't made it in yet. Weird.

A couple minutes later, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Ibuki adjusting her glasses. "Hey."

"Yo. What took you so long?"

Ibuki nervously scratched the back of her head. "I fell through a roof on the way here."

I winced. "Hope you left a note."

"Of course not. Ninja don't pay for the damage they cause."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right. Because you guys aren't responsible people."

"Shut up. Hey, can you go out today?"

"Why?

Ibuki smiled. "We're going shopping again. Yesterday's trip was cut short because of that Maverick attack, so today's going to be take two."

"But I already bought some clothes." I said, hoping to back out of having to be dragged around town. Ibuki, on the other hand, was less than amused.

"Three sets of cheap shoes don't count, Eye." Oh yeah. She was in a better mood. "I'm talking about entire outfits that would be worn away from the Academy. You're coming with me to buy you some new clothes."

"Fine..."

"Oh, do you mind if I bring someone from the village with us? She's been dying to get away for a while, and this seems like the perfect excuse."

I shrugged. "No, go ahead. I wouldn't mind meeting meeting someone else from your hometown."

"Cool." Ibuki looked past the whole group and noticed something. "Uh-oh. Here comes the coach."

I turned around and, sure enough, off in the not so distant distance strolled Coach Fir. He stood around six and a half feet, a monster compared to me. His dark skin matched awkwardly against his short, military-style blond hair. Red eyes scanned over the class, probably trying to figure out what to do with us.

"Alright, guys." He said, trying in apparent vain to get the conversations to end. "Guys..."

I ignored him too and looked around, wondering if the princess would have actually shown up. Imagine my surprise to see that not only was she there and dressed in our workout uniforms, but chatting up some girl by a tree. I nudged an elbow into Ibuki's side to get her attention.

"Who's that?" I asked, not recognizing the other girl. She leaned up against the tree in what a lot of people would see as 'innocent'. She was rather small. I'd wager about my weight, but a good inch or two shorter than me. She had what I'd call genetically impossible blue shoulder-length hair tied into twin pigtails. She and Berkana talked rather casually, though something told me that the other girl probably wasn't their best mood. I didn't recognize her, so I figured she might be new.

Ibuki gave her a quick look. "Oh, she's a transfer student. Her name's Hotaru Futaba. She transferred in yesterday, after you and Berkana were kicked out. She didn't really give a reason for her transfer, mostly saying that it was for personal reasons."

"Huh. Well, she's talking to Berkana, so she can't be good news." I got a good look at this Hotaru character. "You wouldn't think that, looking at her, she would hit it off with her."

"Nope, she really wouldn't." Ibuki shook her head. "I talked to her yesterday. She seemed rather introverted. I can't imagine that she'd befriend Berkana unless she's just being nice."

"Alright, shut up!" Coach Fir shouted, catching everyone's attention. After all, it's not that often that you hear any kind of teacher tell his or her students to 'shut up'. "Good. We won't be here for too long, I hope. Just like you guys, I'd rather not be here and ruin my whole Saturday." At least he knows how to connect with his students.

Coach Fir walked over to the obstacle course and stood next to the first obstacle. "Now then, don't let this thing fool you. This is only to punish you nimrods. The real exercise is this over here." He then walked over to a red line of tape in the grass.

"You kids are going to start here. You'll run from here over to the tree with the red string tied around it." He pointed to a tree off in the distance with, true to his word, a red tie around it. "Once back and forth, then whatever athletic activity you want to do. If I catch you doing something that doesn't get you sweating, you'll be running through that thing over there." He pointed to the obstacle course. Okay then. All I had to do to stay away from that monster was anything that would make me sweat. No problem, provided Ibuki doesn't get the sudden urge to try and break my arms or anything.

I need those, after all.

"You'll run in pairs, that way you don't all trample each other trying to get this done. Get started on your warmup stretches and I'll pair you guys off."

Ibuki took the opportunity to tap me again. "Wanna race?" She asked. I rolled my eyes, but nodded anyway. This was one of those things that she wouldn't take 'no' as an answer. The group spread out a bit so that everyone could have room to do their warmups. Before Ibuki and I could get somewhere out of the way, I was approached by the _last_ person I wanted to see.

"Well, hello Ms. Sakamoto." That arrogant voice said. I turned around to see Berkana with an overconfident smile on her face. "How are you doing on this day?"

"Oh, just fine." I sugar-sweetly replied, wondering if Berkana would pick up what I was putting down.

"Wonderful. I was talking to the newest member of our class..." Huh? Can she really say 'our class' if she's only been here for half a day longer than the new girl? "...when I came up with a rather brilliant idea."

Oh great.

"And what would that be, may I ask?"

Berkana brought a hand up to and rested her head in it. "A chance at redemption for you. As we both know, I defeated you rather easily yesterday." I felt a tick grow on my head. Like I needed a reminder. "So, as a chance to even things up, I thought you might like to try your hand at that obstacle course."

I looked the course over. It was probably around a mile's worth of various daunting-looking obstacles. I couldn't even _begin_ to try and describe what there was. I smiled.

"So, you and I race, then?" I asked. "And the person that goes the farthest wins?"

Berkana nodded. "That is the general idea."

I looked at Ibuki. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and gave me a look that said something I didn't like.

'It's up to you'.

Great. Good to know she's supportive in times of crisis. I thought the idea over. Sure, I wouldn't get the chance to beat her up the way I wanted, but at least I'd have a chance at humiliating her in front of our class.

"Sure. I'll bite." I said. "But _you_ ask for permission."

* * *

"Huh?" Coach Fir looked confused. He scratched at a temple to emphasize his position. "You two actually _want_ to run my obstacle course?"

"Yes." Berkana said with her hands on her hips. I stood nearby, arms crossed in front of me. "And we would like to try it in lieu of the rest of our time here."

"Rather odd." Coach said. "Most people don't even want to touch the course with a ten-foot stick. And yet, here you are, asking not only if you can run it, but if you can race someone else on it in exchange for being here for the rest of the day."

"Not just for us, but the winner will be allowed to choose someone else to take the day off as well."

Coach Fir sighed. "Normally, I wouldn't even _consider_ letting someone back out of my plans unless they had a debilitating medical condition. However, this thing's going to be a lot tougher than you probably would've done anyway." He paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not to let us run it. Eventually, he shrugged. "Meh, why not? Just make sure you two understand one thing; this'll be the _only_ freebie you'll get this entire year.

"Fine by us." Berkana said. I nodded in agreement.

"Alright then. Let me set it up, and then you two can have your race." With that, Coach Fir walked away and started doing _whatever _it was he needed to do to get the course ready. I turned to Berkana with a smile on my face.

"I don't think you have too much to smile about, Ms. Sakamoto." She said with her own grin in full force. "After all, too much strain on your leg _could_ damage it beyond repair."

"Don't worry about that." I replied. "I know someone who could fix things that would need to be fixed."

"I certainly hope so."

"As for you, I don't think you'll get too far on this thing."

"We shall see."

Oh yes. We shall.


	19. Episode 5: Part 3

Looking over the course, I had to wonder just exactly _what_ I was thinking. Huge leaps. Metallic structures. A mini-trampoline or two. Even a huge rope climb at the end. Pretty much everything needed to ruin my leg's mechanics was right there, spread out over about a mile's worth of dug-out mud pits.

What was I thinking?

"Good question." Ibuki said from behind me. Normally, I would've chastised myself for letting my thoughts bleed out of my mouth. In this case, though, I needed a good ribbing. "Here I thought you'd be one not to take stupid risks, and yet you're about to run through a ridiculous looking course that's sure to ruin your leg."

I sank a little bit. "I know..."

"And, if-and-when _that_ happens, you're going to have to pay for a new one, which would only give Berkana ego-fuel and more leverage over you."

"I know..."

"And, if things weren't bad enough for you already, your parents are going to _annihilate_ you if-and-when you ruin your leg. So now, the question must be asked: was your train of thought even on the tracks to begin with?"

"That, I don't know. All I know is that I'd better win this race, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it." Not to mention that the person I hate the most will not only have beaten me twice, but will also rent so much space in my head that I won't be able to think properly. Ibuki only sighed. She knew there wasn't any way I was being talked out of this.

Berkana had walked away to start warming up after talking to Coach Fir. Surprising, considering the fact that she didn't say anything else to me before taking off. I couldn't believe that I was thinking this, but Berkana had a pretty good idea.

I took a few steps away from Ibuki so I could get started on my own stretching. Nothing major, since I didn't think I was going to be doing too much other than running and climbing, by the looks of the thing. Ibuki watched the two of us with interest. I couldn't help but take my eyes off of Berkana, myself.

We concentrated on different areas. Where I was stretching out my legs and my hips to focus more on speed, she opted to do more pushups, situps and other upper body exercises. It looked like she was going to muscle her way through the course. A few minutes later, Coach Fir approached us.

"Okay you two," he said, a toothpick sticking out from between his lips and a whistle around his neck. "Follow me if you still want to go though with this." Wordlessly, the two of us picked ourselves up and followed behind Coach Fir as he led us back over to the monstrosity he called an obstacle course.

Coach Fir scratched the back of his head. "Alright, here's how it's going to work. You'll run it one at a time. Go as far as you can as fast as you can. Stop if you either hear my whistle, hit the water or make it to the end. If you both make it, and I seriously doubt that'll happen, then the fastest time wins. Think you two can handle that?" We both nodded. "Alright then. First one, in the box." He pointed to a small green box at the start of the course. Berkana looked at me with that really _freakin'_ irritating sneer. I guess she wanted me to go first. Fat chance.

"Age before beauty, goat cheese." I said, motion toward the box. Berkana's sneer faded into an unamused expression. She didn't say anything, but opted to walk to the box anyway.

"Huh," Ibuki said as she set an arm on my shoulder. "I half-expected her to say something to you."

"Me too. Weird."

Berkana, still silent, took her spot in the box and set up like she was on a track. Coach Fir and I stood off to the side.

"Ready..." Coach said, looking at a watch he'd gotten. The other students in our class gathered around us, creating a small audience. A couple seconds passed before he brought the whistle to his lips and gave it a hard blow. The signal to start.

The first obstacle was a simple one. Two large slowly spinning cones stood over water. Three quick hops was all it would take. One to get to each cone, one to get to the next platform and the next obstacle. A giant spool sat on two rails with two drops. Berkana wrapped herself around the spool and started it down the rails. She apparently didn't hold on tight enough, because at the first drop down, she slipped off of the spool and fell into the water below with an undignified shriek. The spectators laughed quietly at her plunge, and I couldn't help but join them.

Berkana swam over to the edge of the water pit and pulled herself out. Nobody bothered to try and help her out. I didn't blame them. There was _no_ way I was helping her, that was for sure. When she finally emerged, and I say finally because she slipped on the edge a couple of times, she wore the most embarrassed look I'd ever seen. I'm pretty sure that if she could have, she would've launched a full-on attack right then and there, just so that she could get out of Dodge as quickly as possible.

"Okay, okay." Coach said, scratching his head again. "Sakamoto, in the box."

I slowed my laughing a bit. "Okay." I did as I was told and walked into the box. All I had to do was get past the second obstacle and I'd have her beat. I'd finally have my second overall victory in less than a week.

It'd be a new record.

I readied myself. That whistle would come at any second and I'd be ready. There was no way I was going to lose this. I knew I could do better than Princess. I wasn't going to be denied this vic-

"Iris!" Ibuki shouted from the side. I snapped a look at her. "Go!"

Oops. I took off toward the first obstacle. Leaping toward the first cone, I noticed how much harder it was to run this course than it was to watch. For instance, the jump was a _lot_ farther than I thought. I barely made it onto the cone. Once I got a good grip on it, I waited for it to spin around and let me get to the other cone. A short leap got me across easily. Better than the first jump. One last one to get to the platform and I was on my way to the thing that Berkana failed on. Just like Berkana, I wrapped myself against the reset spool and kicked off of the platform. The spool started spinning down the tracks, and I felt myself losing my grip slightly with each turn. The first drop in the tracks came faster than I was ready for, and I slipped a bit. More spinning and another drop almost made me lose my grip completely, but I managed to hang on until the whole thing came to a stop. I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not it was a good idea to let go. I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea, but I did it anyway.

One of the rare times when being wrong is a good thing.

I landed on a thick pad. Rolling over, I got up and started toward the next obstacle. Unsurprisingly, a small wave of dizziness washed over me. Now then, the only question left was whether or not I needed to keep going. I'd already beaten the brat as far as I was concerned. Why waste energy when I've already proven that I'm better than her at something?

"Hey!" Coach Fir shouted from the side. "If you even _think_ about giving up, I'm gonna run you around the entire city!"

Well, that's good enough for me. Not wanting to run around all of Giga City, all _six hundred square miles_, I shook off the dizziness and continued on. The next step was a large gray pad in the middle of a pole. What am I supposed to do here? Not really thinking about it, I performed the most boneheaded move I could've come up with and just leaped right into the middle of the pad. My body slammed dead center into the obstacle, with my head pinging off the pole, and bounced off helplessly into the water.

I'm considering changing my name to Grace. Maybe it'll have some kind of positive effect.

The backflop into the water hurt, sure. Slamming right into a metal pole through a thin pad hurt, yeah. But my pride took the hardest hit of them all. The freezing mud puddle below the course wasn't enough to cool the intense wave of embarrassment that burned its way across my cheeks as I swam over to the side. Several of the students were laughing. Others were wondering if I'd hurt myself badly on the way down. Ibuki just had her hand up to her head, fingers carefully splayed across her face so that she wouldn't smudge her glasses. Berkana didn't look all that pleased, but that was because she was as drenched as I was _and_ she'd lost to me.

I trudged over to Ibuki, whose head was now practically hanging onto her neck by a thread. Her fingers were still glued to her head.

"Well," I said. "That could've gone a little more smoothly."

Ibuki shook her head. "No kidding. What were you thinking jumping right in the middle of that thing? Anyone with any rational thought process would've jumped onto one side."

I slopped a soggy hand behind my head and scratched at the wet hair nervously. "Well, you've never really accused me of having a rational thought process."

"That's true." She would've continued, but Coach Fir approached the two of us.

"Well, a deal's a deal." He said, scratching at his jaw. "You and one other lucky sap get to get gone. Take your pick."

I thumbed toward Ibuki. She waved. He nodded. We started walking away. All in the span of a few seconds, and all without words. Hey, when you're this good, you don't need to say anything.

Even if you _are_ a little soaked to the bone. And slightly embarrassed.

Shut up.

As we walked away, Ibuki yanked at my damp sleeve.

"Hey," She hissed. "Don't forget that we're going shopping today."

"Sure."

She chose that particular moment to shoot me an intense glare. "And you're buying _more_ than stupid flip flops."

I put my hands up defensively. "Alright. Alright. I'll get a pair of socks." Her eyes narrowed, demonstrating the fact that she was neither joking nor amused. I shrank slightly under her gaze. "Okay."

Like the light switch that she is, Ibuki's expression snapped to a friendly smile. "Good. See you in a couple hours." I barely had time to wave before she ran out of the front gate and away to her house.

* * *

Going home in completely drenched gym clothes is pretty difficult. Walking feels like a slosh-fest. The clothes are practically a second skin. A much more irritating and raisin-ing skin. Even worse is the fact that I had to try and explain how I got wet all over in the first place.

All she could do was stare at me blankly while a fresh cup of steaming coffee sat in her hand. She wasn't too thrilled about my state of affairs.

Hey, at least I took off my shoes. I wasn't about to get the carpet wet too.

* * *

After a nice hot shower to warm up my otherwise frozen form, I had a bit of a hard time figuring out what I was going to wear. My wardrobe isn't limited per se, but I often find myself pondering over the various combinations of tops and bottoms I could put together. Lots of T-shirts and tons of jeans. I eventually settled on a light blue T-shirt with a flower print, blue jeans and the blue flip flops I bought the day before. My regular shoes were too wet for me to wear anywhere, so I figured why not? It would also serve as an irritant to Ibuki's nerves.

I made my way downstairs to see Mom on the phone. She had yet another cup of coffee with her, making me wonder why our walls weren't padded just yet.

"I'm off to meet up with Ibuki." I told her. She ignored me and continued with her conversation. "Mom?"

She continued to ignore me.

"Mom?"

A sip and more conversing.

I decided to see if she'd notice me if I said something crazy-sounding.

"I'm gonna go figure out a way to revive Copy X and join him in a quest to take over the world."

Mom frustratedly pulled her phone away from her ear. "Iris, I'm in the middle of an important meeting. It'd be nice if I could get a little peace here."

"I'm going out."

Mom waved her hand dismissively. "Okay, bye."

With that, I started toward the Arcade. I don't know why, but the attack from the day before didn't deter the owners. The gaggle of stores were open again, but the damaged area had been cordoned off to civilians. Police guards watched over the area to make sure nobody tried anything stupid.

I kinda strolled around through the mall crowd a little bit. It didn't hit me that Ibuki hadn't called yet when I arrived, so I thought I might have some time to burn. That was until, of course, a phantom hand set itself on my shoulder. I jumped slightly and spun around, fists ready to break a jaw.

"Yo." A familiar girl held up a 'V' sign. Next to her stood another girl nervously scratching at her temple.

"Good grief," I sighed, putting my hands down. "Don't do that to me!"

Ibuki shrugged. "Hey, you're the one with a ninja for a friend. You'd think you'd be a little more aware of things."

"Yeah, whatever." I looked at the girl next to Ibuki. "Hello."

Ibuki looked over to her too. "Oh, right. This is my best friend outside of the village, Iris. Iris, this is my best friend _in _the village, Sarai."

Her friend stood about as tall as her, with shoulder-length lavender hair. A set of orange goggles sat on her head, and small freckles dotted her cheeks. An orange wristband with a watch face wrapped itself around her left wrist. She wore a white shirt and blue skirt with red shoes.

She offered a small wave. "Hello."

"Hi." I looked her over again. "You don't seem like the kind that'd be a ninja."

Sarai scratched at her temple again. "I'm not, just yet. I only moved into the village a couple years ago."

"Yeah," Ibuki agreed. "She did us a few favors and got to train with us. She's making some good progress, though."

"Thanks."

I smiled. It was only a couple of minutes, but I could tell that they were close friends. Closer than Ibuki and I were.

And we were close, let me tell you.

"Okay then." Ibuki said. "Enough with the personal assessments. We came here to shop, so darn it we're gonna shop!"

Sarai and I traded raised eyebrows. We connected right away; neither of us were sure we could predict this goofball we call a friend.

The three of us started walking down the undamaged halls, browsing through the various stores. Nothing really caught any of our eyes, so we spent most of that time chatting with one another. Most of the talk was about random things. Boys. TV. The usual stuff.

We kept going until something in a store window inspired me to stop. Something of utter beauty. Ibuki and Sarai kept walking for a couple more steps before realizing that I'd stopped. They both walked back up to me.

"Hey, what's up?" Ibuki asked me.

Sarai nodded. "Yeah, you just kinda froze up."

I, like an idiot, slowly pointed toward what had my interest. "That."

In the window sat the most beautiful item I'd ever seen. A lucky mannequin sported a deep blue kimono with flowers of various colors decorating the length of it. A light pink sash and thin red tie wrapped themselves around the waist. A pair of black polished wooden sandals sat underneath, completing the look.

"Oh, wow." Ibuki said as intelligently as I looked.

"That's cute." Sarai agreed.

I picked up my jaw and started toward the shop's entrance. "I've _got_ to try that on."

A few minutes later, I stepped out of the shop's dressing room adorned with the kimono in question. Ibuki and Sarai sat on a couple of chairs, waiting for me to finish and model myself in it. I'd have finished putting it on sooner, but there was a lot more folding and tying involved in the process than I thought. It was also a bit more restrictive in terms of movement than I thought, but the way it looked on me, I figured the time and effort were worth it.

"Wow. That actually looks good on you."

"You look great, Iris!"

Apparently Ibuki and Sarai agreed. I smiled. Oh yeah, it looked good. I looked good. It was a good day to look good.

After changing back into my original outfit, we milled around the mall a little bit more before I was dragged into another store. This time, it was Ibuki that was drawn to a display in a shop window. Sarai and I sat in the chairs near this store's dressing room as well. I looked around a bit. Various dresses hung off the racks. The designs covered tastes and styles of all kinds. Really, anybody who _could_ wear a dress would be able to find one in there.

"So..." Sarai said, drawing me from my observations. "How did you meet Ibuki?"

"Hmm? Oh. I kinda ran into her a few years ago."

Sarai lifted an eyebrow. "Ran into her?"

I waved a hand. "Yeah, it was a bit of an accident. I had just gotten out of my karate class and I was pretty excited. I'd just gotten my blue belt, you see." Sarai nodded, listening. "I ran out of the dojo rather manically. I wasn't looking where I was going and, in my excitement, barreled right into her back."

"Ooh," Sarai said with a cringe. "Sounds like it hurt."

"Nah, we were both fine, but she wasn't too happy." A smile grew on my face as I recalled our meeting. "She turned around and gave me the angriest look I think I've ever seen from her. I remember what she said perfectly."

"You're lucky that I don't take that stupid belt and shove it down your throat for being so careless." A voice said from behind us. We both turned to find Ibuki in a large black dress with white lace accents. A small black veil hung over her face, making it seem like she was elegantly dressed for a funeral or something. "You didn't have much choice but to listen to that. I _did_ kinda scream it in your ear."

I giggled a bit. "Yeah, then you followed me for three days until I apologized."

Sarai giggled herself. "You two met because of an accident?"

"No, because of her carelessness."

"Yeah, sure. Blame me because you decided to stand in an excited girl's way."

"No, I'm blaming you because an excited girl doesn't know how take a step off to the side to save her life."

Two hands met the backs of two heads. Ibuki and I rubbed sore spots while glaring slightly at Sarai. She stood with a confident smirk and both of her hands in the air.

"Now, now." She said. "Am I going to need to separate you children?"

"Shut up, Sarai." Ibuki said before making her way toward the door.

"Hey!" I shouted after her. "You've gotta pay for that!"

"I already did! You'd know that if you were paying attention!"

Great. She beats me every time we fight _and_ she manages to make me look stupid. Great friend.

I started making my way out of the store behind her when something else caught my eye. I pulled the dress in question off of the rack and raised an eyebrow. Why I was interested in this was beyond me. The dress had two yellow lines on it, dividing it lengthwise and across the chest, effectively dividing it into four sections. The top sections were in red, while the bottom part was in blue. The skirt was mainly blue as well, with red sections circling the length of it.

I stared at it for a few moments. It didn't seem like something I'd wear, but at the same time I was strangely drawn to it. Like it was supposed to be a part of me. I rushed it over to the cashier to pay for it while Sarai followed Ibuki out of the shop.

I'm not sure why, but that dress felt like it was supposed to be mine from the beginning. I dunno.

A couple minutes and a couple thousand Zennies later, I ran out after my friends. The two of them didn't get to far despite the amount of time they could've taken to get a head start. Instead, they were standing still a few stores down. I caught up to them rather quickly.

"Hey." I said, a little out of breath. "Thanks for leaving me behind."

"Iris," Ibuki said quietly. "Do you see that?"

She pointed to a guy standing a good distance off. He didn't look like any Pseudoroid I'd ever seen. He had a humanoid body, I assumed. Assumed because everything from the neck down was covered in a large black cape. His head was a sickly pale, while large bat ears shot up from the sides. Said head was encased in some kind of container. The people passing him by didn't give him much thought, and neither did I.

"Yeah," I said. "So what?"

"So," Sarai answered. "He's been standing there for nearly twenty minutes."

"And? He could be waiting for someone."

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't stand in the same spot for that long if he was. He's up to something."

I rolled my own. "Yeah. Sure. What could he _possibly _have in mind?"

As if to answer my question, the man in question stretched on arm out. In his hand was a silver ball with black spaces and red dots spotting it all around. A quick toss sent the ball into the middle of the hallway. A second later, several weird looking things that looked like people materialized from the ball. Their heads were designed the same way the ball looked a moment before. Their bodies were in all black while a single white strip ran down the length of their torsos. Normal right hands were had, but their lefts had been replaced by giant silver needle-looking things.

...needles...

They moved very mechanically, even as they leveled their arms and fired electric arcs into the various shops around them. Glass and fire quickly flew from the areas, sending dangerous shrapnel everywhere and people scattering around in a frenzied panic. The three of us ducked into a nearby shop.

"Yeah, he's waiting for something!" Ibuki shouted over the madness.

"What does he want?" Sarai shout-asked. A second later, an arc landed a couple of feet away and set off another large explosion.

I covered my head with my hands. "Can't imagine it's this year's..." I looked around the store. "...expired candies!"

Yet another arc landed close to us. Did I need this right now?

* * *

**I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize. I'd have had this chapter out sooner, but a _really_ draining week at work prevented me from making any real progress on it.**

**With that, it's time to answer the reference questions from two chapters ago.**

**Reference 1: Mega Man Legends (in universe, the show's called _Mega Man Dash: Lost Legends_)**

**Reference 2: The show's theme song is a lyric swap from _Power Rangers Time Force._**

**Reference 3: Parents feared that the basic premise from the manga _Battle Royale_ would be what their children would be put through. I, however, am not that sadistic. Yet.**


	20. Episode 5: Final

Fire, glass and several different kinds of ash and goop that _used_ to be candy surrounded where the three of us hid ourselves. Electric arcs continued to dance their way around the hall, either destroying whatever it was they came into contact with or terrifying other bystanders that hadn't managed to get away. The three of us ducked down every time one of those..._things_...fired anywhere near us.

You can't really blame any of us. Not many people can have someone shoot at them without flinching.

"So what now?" Sarai asked after yet another explosion went off.

"I don't know." Ibuki answered. "We've got to find a way to get out of here."

"Like what? The only exit's being bombarded with...with...whatever they're shooting!"

We all looked around. The two of them needed to get as far away from there as possible. I needed to get to a spot where I could do what I needed to do. There _had _to be another way out. Didn't there?

Didn't there?

Sarai pointed up to a spot on the ceiling. "What about that?"

Ibuki scrunched her eyebrows in a mix of both confusion and disbelief. "A vent shaft? Really? You know, despite popular belief, those things can't hold nearly as much weight as you'd think they can."

"Maybe," I chimed in. "But you two are ninja. You should be able to get through it easily."

"But what about you?" Ibuki asked. Another fire started up right next to us, forcing our group to slide away from the danger. "You don't have the kind of training we do. You wouldn't make it three feet before falling through."

She had a point. This was the kind of situation where you'd want to make sure all of your friends get away from trouble as quickly and as safely as possible. There wasn't any way Ibuki would leave me behind just to get herself out.

Speaking of my ninja friend, she decided that particular moment would be a good time to take a deep sigh. "If only that guy from the news would show up and whisk us away to safety."

I turned my head to try and hide my now twitching eyebrow. "Guy from the news?"

"Yeah." Ibuki said more cheerfully than she really needed to. "You know, that guy in all black the police think is a girl? The one who's been fighting all of these guys and protecting all the hot ladies in the area." I forced back my body's sudden need to gag. "I wonder how many numbers that guy's gotten. Maybe I could give him mine if I see him."

Sarai smacked Ibuki on the back of her head for the second time that day. "Now isn't the time to think about hitting on a hero."

I looked around while they bickered for a moment. Nothing seemed to be anything that could be of any help. There wasn't any way the three of us could get out. Not without breaking something either on the property or on my body. Plus, this guy and whatever those things were that he'd summoned or activated needed to be stopped before they could get out into the general public.

Assuming, of course, that a huge mall isn't considered the general public to begin with.

An idea I didn't like popped up into my head. There was no way around it. Things would have to be taken in a direction I didn't want them to go. For me to even consider what I was considering meant that only two things were possible. A: We'd exhausted all of our options and had no choice or B: I didn't quite think things through as well as I could've.

At that moment, it seemed like Option A. It was probably closer to option B.

"Look," I said, eying my watch. I faked interest in it. "It's about 4."

Ibuki's eyes bugged out. "You're kidding me."

Bingo. "Nope. Hopefully we won't be stuck here for too long. I'm not interested in becoming a hostage or anything."

"Oh heck no." Ibuki cried before frantically running around the shop, stacking things on top of each other underneath the vent duct. "I am _not_ staying here another second! There is _no_ way I'm going to miss my show!"

Dear, sweet Ibuki. A modern day ninja with her priorities lined out perfectly. Eventually, the pile of objects grew as large as she could possibly make it. She then shot us both a look that was filled with a fiery determination.

"Come on, Sarai!" She shouted as she climbed the pile. "Let's get out of here!"

Sarai walked over to the pile. "But what about Iris?"

I readjusted myself on the ground and forced a smile. "I'll be fine. I can handle myself, you know. Just go."

"Are you sure?" Sarai asked. I wordlessly nodded, prompting the two of them to figure out how to get from the pile to the vent. Two minutes and one human ladder later, the last bit of Sarai being pulled up into the shaft disappeared from my view. I waited for a few more moments, waiting to see if the two of them were still there. A few dull thumps along the ceiling told me that they were on the way out.

Good. Now I didn't have to worry about showing Ibuki or Sarai what I was about to do. If she saw me, she'd never let me hear the end of it. Shows and comics with transforming heroes or heroines were always her favorites, and the last thing I needed was for her to harass me about being a Maverick Hunter.

Speaking of which, I decided that this time I'd forgo the mouth and just go in prepared. I didn't want to underestimate these guys like I did with Saurion. A quick scan of the area told me that there wasn't anyone around to watch. I said the magic words and thumbed the magic button on the watch. A second and freezingly warm moment passed before my armor shone in the fires and lights of the shop. Gotta say, black and purple look good against the colors of a flame.

Anyway, I ran out into the hallway and looked around some more. It wasn't too hard to figure out which way they went. The group left a pretty clear trail of destruction behind them. Deciding that time was of the essence, I ran down the hall, hoping I could catch up pretty quickly. I hadn't, however, made it too far down before my helmet started beeping at me. I reached up and hit the button near my ear.

"Hello?"

"_Iris_!" By instinct, I yanked my head away, only to realize that I was wearing a _helmet_ and couldn't do anything about how loudly the person on the other side of the line was yelling.

"Middy," I growled. "You've _got_ to learn that destroying someone's eardrum is _not _an acceptable greeting."

"_Never mind that, Iris_. _We got a signal that you've suited up, but we're not getting any Maverick activity._ _What's going on_?"

I frowned as I ran. "No Maverick activity? Are you sure you're looking in the right place?"

"_Unless you're capable of being in two places at once, I'm pretty sure_._"_

"Middy, I just saw a guy call out, or summon, or whatever a bunch of guys and they started trashing the Shopping Arcade. You _can't _tell me you guys aren't getting that."

"_Iris, as far as we can tell, the danger signals we got from the area are spontaneous explosions. In any case, be careful. We don't have any information we can give you."_ Not that they were much help in my first couple of fights.

"Alright. Iris out." I thumbed the button on my helmet again and, for a brief second, I pondered why I went militaristic just then.

A brief second because sometime between hanging up and rounding a corner, I managed to find Batboy and his minions.

"Ahh..." I heard him say just before one of his workers fired off another shot and blew up a vendor stand. "Nothing like the smell of destruction in the morning. This seems like a good place to move my business to."

"Hey!" I shouted. He spun around. I should probably consider coming up with something a little more intelligent to say than that. "Do you have any idea how much this stuff costs?"

Really? Was that _all_ I could come up with?

"Not nearly as much as I could make with a show like this." He responded. His face refused to move at all, not giving me a hint as to what he was thinking or feeling.

"'A show'? This is supposed to be some kind of performance?"

He reached out from under the cape that covered the majority of his body and wagged a clawed finger. "Not necessarily. More of a 'demonstration', if you will. You see, I happen to be something of an entrepreneur."

"'Entrepreneur'? This is a business to you?"

"Oh yes, and quite the profitable one. You see, I display my Krybots here..." He motioned toward the things that had stopped firing and were now standing in place, moving their arms up and down rhythmically. "...and potential black market buyers express their interest. After all, these aren't weapons that you'll find here on Earth."

So he's all about money, is he? Well, I've got armor that, to the average person, _could _seem rather sinisterly colored. I decided to try something a little out of character for me. I slinked forward a bit and let a little honey drip into my voice. "And what would you say if I were interested in these...Krybots were they?" So much for forgoing the mouth.

He perked up a little bit. I thought I had him. "Why, yes. Yes they are. Impressed are we? Well, since you're the first customer of the day, I'll cut you a small deal."

"Well, a discount sounds great and everything, but there's a little something about these Krybots that I'd like to know more about."

"Of course. What is it would you like to know about?"

I slowly strolled up to one of the Krybots and, gently setting a hand on its shoulder, leaned against it in what I thought might've been a confident manner. The man's facial expressions never changed, making it hard for me to gauge what sort of reactions he had. If his mindset was what I thought it was, then this guy had no idea what I was about to do. I smirked at the thought of the potential putty I had in my hands.

"Their durability." With that, I took the hand that was on one of the minions, shoved it away and drew the Z-Blade with my other hand. The draw itself was enough to swing the sword into the chest of the Krybots and send it spinning to the ground with a trail of sparks. The other Krybots nearby snapped their heads toward me and charged, quickly forming a circle around me.

Great. Now I just had to hope that this didn't turn out like the day before.

Two came at me at the same time. A quick spinning hook kick to the head of one ended up catching both and sending them harmlessly to the ground. Another one came up from behind me and wrapped its arms around mine, squeezing me into a tight bear hug. Two more, making five so far, charged at me again. The one that held me made the mistake of lifting me off the ground a bit. That allowed me to kick out hard against the two that came toward me. Once they were down, I wriggled around a bit until the Krybot was forced to set me down. From there, a stomp on the foot and a couple elbows to the side made it release me and clutch its side in something similar to pain.

Funny, considering the 'bot' in the name would imply that it were a Mechaniloid, which wouldn't normally feel pain.

I spun around and slashed that Krybot while I could. The last two leveled their needle arms and fired electric arcs at me. I rolled safely out of the way. Well, mostly. A stray bolt caught me on the shin, super-heating the armor in an instant and burning my leg underneath. When I got back to my feet, I shook my leg a bit and cringed. That was the second time electricity burned me while I was in a fight.

Maybe I should stay away from appliances for a while.

I readied my swords, waiting for the two to charge me. A second later, they both took a step toward me. I would've run in and taken them down before they had a chance to take another step, but my burning leg kept me from putting too much weight on it and, by extension, moving.

The red energy bolts that came out of nowhere, crashed into the remaining Krybots, and put them down for the count, might have had something to do with it as well.

Bat-freak turned toward the direction that the bolts came from. His entire upper torso angled back a bit in surprise, I guess.

"Well," he said. "That's my cue to go." With that, his body somehow shrank and took on the appearance of a bat. The bat flapped its wings in place a few times before flying out of my sight.

"Wait!" I called out after him. I made an attempt at chasing after him, but a combination of searing pain and more bolts landing around me in a shower of light and sparks kept me from going anywhere. I did what the bat did a moment before and traced the bolts back to where I came from. My eyes widened slightly at what I saw.

Five people in brightly colored suits and helmets ran toward me. The one in the middle held twin red Buster Pistols. Looking around a bit more, I saw two _very_ familiar figures watching from down the hall. I could feel my eye and my lip twitch slightly.

This was quickly becoming a very bad day.


	21. Episode 6: Emergency!

**EMERGENCY!**

**PART 2**

How do I describe the situation I found myself in? Words almost fail to articulate the predicament in which I had managed to wrap myself in.

Almost.

Also, those were two words I never thought I'd use in the same sentence. But my personal attacks on my own intelligence are for a whole different occasion.

On this day, I managed to go out with a friend and a friend of a friend, who quickly became my own friend, if that makes any sense. We shopped around in the Giga City Shopping Arcade for a while, despite a recent Maverick attack that destroyed a portion of the Arcade. We were doing well, too. I bought a dress and a kimono that I absolutely fell in love with. All while the fact that the one person I hate the most in this world, despite the all of _five_ seconds we actually talked, was harboring some sort of plan to destroy this city for some odd reason. A plan that, lest we forget, that I _still_ had yet to share with anyone other than my pet-slash-support unit Ocelot by the name of Tango.

After shopping for a while, my friends and I found ourselves caught in an attack-slash-weapon demonstration orchestrated by some bat-based Pseudoroid, I assumed, and the Mechaniloid goons, again I assumed, in an attempt to further his position in what he was thoroughly convinced was an area of the black market he probably wanted to corner. I decided to try and put a stop to his plans, even though I'd been told by one of my field technicians that there wasn't any sort of Maverick activity in the area.

I was doing fairly well on my own against a group of things causing destruction and chaos compared to my previous attempt at such. The time before, I had been sufficiently mauled and nearly destroyed until previously mentioned Ocelot leaped into the fray and saved my proverbial bacon. This time, however, I managed to take down five Krybots, as the Pseudoroid called them on my own, sustaining a leg injury in the process. The last two active Krybots were taken down by a mysterious source, as far as I knew at the moment. The Pseudoroid turned tail and flew away, apparently beating a quick retreat. I tried to chase after him, but pain, heat and sparks kept me from pursuing him.

Looking around, I managed to find the source of the bolts that defeated the last of the Krybots, as well as keep me in a single location. What I saw was not _nearly_ what I had expected to see.

See, aside from the concerns that I had about Berkana wanting to level Giga City, a big issue that didn't sit well with me was the fact that I had apparently been tasked with protecting the entire country of Neo Arcadia by myself. Not an easy task for a teenager, let alone someone who'd recently discovered that she's the daughter of two of the world's greatest heroes.

I, at first, hoped that the five people running toward me was the introduction of newly assigned Maverick Hunters to help me with my cause. After all, you can't exactly expect one person to be able to protect a country on their own, right?

Right?

My hopes, however, diminished when I realized that the one in the middle, brandishing the twin red Buster Pistols, was probably the one who fired around me, keeping me in place. Not that a painfully burned shin wasn't doing the job on its own.

I also figured that they weren't here to help me when they stood a few feet away, the dual Pistol wielder holding them level and aimed directly at me. It _did_, however, give me a chance to get a good look at them.

The five wore bright uniforms. The full-body suits were almost identical, save for the fact that each was a different color. Red, blue, green, yellow and pink. The chests on each also bore the numbers 1-5 respectively. It seemed like a kindergarten lesson in colors and counting came up to stop me from following the bat Pseudoroid. I did the only thing I could think to do.

"What is going on here?"

"You tell me." One of them answered. I couldn't tell which one right off because their helmets covered ever part of their features. At least you could see_ my_ eyes through my helmet. The only way I could tell it was the one in red was because he was actually moving like someone who was talking would. "You're the one trying to strike a deal with an intergalactic criminal."

"Intergalactic what?" What was this guy going on about? "Look, who are you people, anyway?"

Big mistake asking that, Iris.

Big.

Mistake.

Because, as it would happen, that was apparently an invitation for the group to sound off.

"One!" The red one shouted. I jerked my head back slightly in surprise. "S.P.D...Red!" With that, he struck the most ridiculous pose I think I've ever seen. The other four followed suit, shouting numbers and colors to go along with equally embarrassing stances.

Ibuki would've loved these weirdos. They were right up her rather strange alley. I, on the other hand, had a hard time believing people like that actually existed. I mean, who dresses up like that and tries to be much cooler than they actually are, anyway?

Note to self: Don't look in any mirrors for a couple hours.

"Space Patrol Delta!"

The group eventually finished, each finally standing up straight and holding out a small black box with flashing red lights on the top and the letters "S.P.D." in white running along the side. Similar lights flashed on both sides of their helmets.

If it weren't for the fact that I already had a hard time trying to stand on what I was pretty sure was a badly burned shin, I probably would've stumbled forward in sheer embarrassment.

"There's two minutes of my life I'd gladly trade everything to get back." I muttered under my breath.

"Really, now?" The one in blue sneered slightly. "Would that include trading in your freedom?"

"That'd be really weird if it does." The green one chimed in. "Because that'd mean that you'd go to jail for something that you wouldn't get anyway. Physics and the time-space continuum being what they are and all..."

"Bridge!" The one in yellow, who through the whole introduction sequence I deduced to be a female, shouted. Green slowly turned his head toward her.

"Sorry."

Pink, also obviously female, scoffed and set her hands on her hips. "Can we get this over with? I've got a manicure and a pedicure waiting for me when we get home."

Oh, then by all means. Don't let _me_ hamper your plans.

"You _did_ when you decided to try and buy off weapons from that bat!" The red one accused, leveling his Buster Pistols at me. Mouth runs ahead of brain once again. I should start keeping score. "Now tell me where he went and things might not go so badly for you."

I held up a hand in defense. "Whoa, hold on! This is big misunderstanding!"

"Really?" Blue spoke up. "Just what part of you attempting to make a deal with an intergalactic criminal are we misunderstanding, exactly?"

My eyes rolled. "How about the part where I _destroyed_ several of those Mechaniloid things?"

"Big deal," Yellow retorted. "Beating a bunch of Krybots doesn't mean a whole lot."

Great. Thanks for diminishing my accomplishment, you sun-kissed jerk.

"Look, let me-argh!" I made the mistake of trying to stand up straight and ended up placing more weight on my burned leg than it wanted to take.

"I think you've explained yourself enough." Red said as he holstered the Pistols. "Now then, you're coming with us!" Before I had the chance to try and defend myself with my words again, the five brightly colored nuisances charged me. Now I had to defend myself with my fists and I couldn't properly move around because of my injury.

Wonderful. This is what I get for trying to do something a little different.

Red and Blue both leaped at me, legs extended into flying kicks. Avoiding the attacks were easy. A simple roll to the side was all I needed to do. The hard part was avoiding the ax kick from Blue that followed the flying variety. I brought my arm up to block the attack, forgetting that I still had my Z-Blade in my hand. The blade pointed upward, creating a _very_ dangerous method of blocking an attack.

At least, it would have on someone else. The body suit apparently protected him better than I thought it would. He didn't even flinch when his Achilles' hit the blade. I pushed off with the blade, knocking him off balance and into Red. Green attacked this time, delivering a pair of low kicks of his own. I blocked them both, but doing so forced me off balance. I swung one of my swords at him, catching him on the stomach. As he rolled away, Yellow and Pink aimed Buster Pistols of their own at me and fired. My leg still in pain, I didn't have much choice but to try and shield myself from the blasts.

Fat load of good that did. It only resulted in my forearms joining my shin in offering me intensely irritating pain. Things didn't get any better for me, as the five of them lined up once again, all leveling their weapons.

"Ready..." Red called out. My eyes widened at the sight of the firing squad before me. "Fire!"

"Aw-" Was all I could get out before numerous bolts of energy landed on and around me, creating an inferno of flames and sparks all around me. I cried out in pain as my armor as a whole intensified in temperature. If this kept up, I was sure I would've been cooked alive.

Not a good way for things to end, I decided. I could only hope that the shots would come to an end soon.

A second later, my silent and pained prayer was answered as the shots came to an abrupt end. I collapsed forward, gasping for breath. My hair fell in front of me, appearing to be an extremely faded blond. I looked at it oddly. It didn't make sense for my hair to change colors like that, and it was the second time it happened.

"Now then." Red said as he pulled the black box from earlier from his belt. "It's time to end this."

Right. More important things to tend to here. I didn't need to worry about my brunette locks...

Wait. Brunette? I wasn't sure how or why, but my armor faded, leaving me in the street clothes I was wearing before I morphed. My head dropped in a mix of pain and embarrassment. I just couldn't stop taking beatings in fights, could I? Even my armor gave up on me. Or it might've if it could think for itself.

Red held the box out in front of him. "You are hereby being charged with soliciting business with a known criminal and destruction of private property."

I groaned. "I keep telling you...that's not how it was..."

"We'll see. Judgment Mode!" He pressed a button on top of the box. The front flipped open, revealing a display that alternated between a blue 'X' and a red 'O', as well as a timer. I tried to stand up, only to find that my feet were frozen in place. Whatever was going on, it made sure I couldn't move from where I was.

That was fine by me. After the assault and horrendous feelings from my arms and leg, I wasn't in that big of a rush to get anywhere. I took a few deep breaths, trying to push the pain out of my mind. Not an easy thing to do when the body parts sending those signals of agony to your brain are your limbs.

A few moments of near silence passed. The black box continued to alternate between the two lights, ticking away the seconds that passed by. None of the six of us moved. They were waiting for the machine to finish. I was waiting to get out of there.

Eventually, the little black box finished whatever it was doing and displayed the result. The blue 'O' glowed brightly, the light pulsing slowly.

"Huh?" Red asked. The five looked at the box with what I was sure were surprised expressions. It was kinda hard to tell with their helmets covering everything. "Not guilty?"

Oh, so that's what that thing was. A portable judge and jury. I'd have thought it cool at the time if it weren't for the fact that I was aching and stinging everywhere.

"See?" I said. "I told you this was a misunderstanding."

"Then why don't you explain who you are?" Red asked, holstering the box.

"I'd love to..." I shifted my weight slightly, trying to take some of it off my burned leg. "But I'm kinda having a hard time concentrating on anything other than 'ow' right now."

"Uh, yeah...sorry about that..." The five started to approach me. I assumed they were going to try and help me, but they never really got the chance. After taking a couple of steps, they were cut off by a set of flying weapons. Black, diamond shaped knives embedded themselves in the ground before them. A pair of bodies, the ones I saw before, flew in the air above me, landing in between us. My eyes grew when I saw who they were.

"Stay back." Ibuki growled, clutching an unused kunai tightly and still in the dress she bought earlier. "You're not laying another hand on her."

Unlike Ibuki, Sarai was more focused on me. "Hey, are you alright?"

I painfully chuckled for a moment. "Except for a slight tingling, I'm fine."

Red put his hands up defensively. "Relax. We're going to help."

Ibuki tightened her hold on her kunai. "I don't think so. We'll take it from here."

"Look," I said as I struggled to stand. "I'll be glad to explain everything later. Do you know where the Maverick Hunter Corps HQ is?"

Red shook his head. "No, but I'm sure we can find it."

"Good, because I couldn't tell you where it was if I knew." Surprisingly enough, I was able to get up on one leg. I kept my weight off of my burned leg to try and minimize the pain. "Wait for me there. I'll meet up with you later."

"Sounds good. Let's go, guys." With that, the five turned to walk away. I could only hope they were actually leaving and not just trying to pull a fast one. Before they left my sight, however, I could see Pink stop Yellow.

"Wait," I could barely hear her say. "What just happened there?"

"Got me." Yellow shrugged before the two continued walking. "I just hope he knows what he's doing."

A few moments passed after the five left. Ibuki relaxed, hid her kunai under her dress and set off to retrieve the ones stuck in the ground. Sarai slid under my arm on my burned side.

I know I'm bringing it up a lot, but have you ever been badly burned? It's kinda hard to get off your mind.

Sarai looked over the arm I draped over her shoulders. They weren't as bad off as my leg. "Wow. That can't feel too comfortable."

I laughed slightly. "Not really, no."

"You deserve it." Ibuki said as she approached the two of us. "Keeping secrets from and tricking your friends and all."

"Which reminds me. What are you guys still doing here?"

Ibuki flashed her watch at me. "I just happened to check the time on our way out. It's nowhere _near_ 4, so I figured something was up."

Sarai laughed nervously. "It didn't help that we ended up falling through the bottom of the ventilation shaft after a couple of feet anyway."

"I swear, they make those things without considering the possibility that a ninja might need to use them..."

I rolled my eyes. "Look, you can rue the day designers forgot about you guys later. Right now, I'm kinda injured here."

Ibuki scratched her head. "Oh, right." She slid under my other arm, allowing me to use both her and Sarai as human crutches. We slowly made our way toward the nearest exit. Just before we reached the door, Ibuki took the opportunity to say something I found very important.

"Just so you know," she said. "I called your mom and asked her to come get us."

My eyes bugged once more. Great. Now I'm going to have a _lot_ of explaining to do.

"Thanks."

* * *

**Who knew that writing a brief oneshot makes for good motivation?**

**Anyway, I kept the action sequence in this part rather brief due to the fact that Iris was injured and couldn't do much to defend herself because of the injury. I also opted to skip the majority of the intro sequence due to time constraints. Namely, I felt it'd be too long and too repetitive.  
**

**Trivia time! Iris says something the guest stars of these two episodes that a villain from their franchise (not necessarily the same season) says. What does she say about them?  
**


	22. Episode 6: Part 2

Using a pair of crutches is annoying. If you don't use them just right, you'll end up hurting your shoulders, your wrists or both. Using two friends as crutches, however, is a lot better. They're compassionate, considerate, cautious and you won't wear your arms out because they'll carry you a little bit and make it comfortable for both of you.

Which is why, despite my injuries, I rather enjoyed Ibuki and Sarai helping me out of the Shopping Arcade. The two of them helped me keep my weight off my burn, which still stung like all let out. We stopped just outside the exit. I looked around, but couldn't find Mom anywhere.

Odd, considering how quickly she found me after the Maverick attack the day before.

"Let me sit down." I said. My two human supports nodded and gently set me down on my backside. It was the only part of me that _didn't_ hurt at that point, though as soon as I put some weight on it, I winced.

"That hurts, too?" Ibuki asked almost incredulously. I nodded, but I knew why it chose that particular moment to experience pain. Shifting a bit and reaching underneath me, I pulled out the source of the pain.

A stupid, pointed rock. I threw it away in frustration.

Ibuki set one of her hands on my thigh. "Here, let me see your leg." I groaned a bit, knowing that letting her see it was going to be a bad idea. First, because she'd see how bad it was. Second, _I'd_ see how bad it was, and I _really_ didn't want to know. Biting my lip, I reached for my pant leg and slowly pulled it up. Just as I predicted, the feeling of denim against burned skin was not a good one, to say the least. I didn't pull it up very far, but it was good enough for the other two.

Sarai cringed. "That looks _really_ bad."

Ibuki mimicked her. "Probably a second degree burn. You've gotta get that looked at right away."

I didn't want to, but I looked down at it. My skin was a deep red and cracking in a few places. It stung like crazy once it was exposed to the air. After getting a quick look, I gently pulled the leg back down and laid myself on the ground.

"Wonderful," I said. I didn't necessarily care that Ibuki and Sarai were right there beside me. I also didn't bother to hear the sound of a car pulling up to us. "A burn is all I need right now."

"Iris!" Mom's voice called out to me. I sat up and saw her circle around her car rather and walk up to me quickly. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better." I said. Mom looked sort of relieved. I guess she was expecting me to be in a worse condition.

"Oh, good. When Ibuki called, I was afraid something bad happened."

Ibuki scratched her cheek nervously. "Well, it's not _all_ good news, Ms. Sakamoto."

That was when Mom's facial muscles picked up one of her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"One of my legs and both of my arms are burned." I said, showing her my affected forearms. Mom scanned over them with her eyes.

"Let me see your leg." She ordered. Not wanting to argue, I braved the pain and pulled up my pant leg again. She winced slightly, but didn't react the way Ibuki and Sarai did. "That doesn't look too comfortable."

I shook my head. "It's not."

"I think it might be a second-degree." Ibuki added. Mom chuckled a bit. Thanks for laughing at my pain.

"It's not that bad." Mom said. "It looks like it's mostly on the skin. Let's get you home and get it taken care of."

"Uh...are you sure she doesn't need to see a doctor for it?" Sarai asked, concerned. It didn't take her very long to think of me as a friend.

"It's Saturday." Mom said simply. "There aren't any doctors offices open today except hospitals, and it's not bad enough to necessitate a hospital visit."

"But it hurts to put any weight on it." I whined. "Are you _sure_ it isn't that bad?"

Mom tapped her foot impatiently. "You'll be fine once we get you home." She looked at Ibuki and Sarai. "Can you two help get her into the car?"

Ibuki took that opportunity to test her convincing skills. "Can we come with?"

Mom thought it over for a moment. I personally couldn't see much wrong with them going along since I was pretty sure I had an idea about how much of the action the two had seen. Before long, though, she made up her mind and shrugged.

"If you'd like to." She looked around for a moment. "Now, let's get moving before things get to be a real mess."

The three of us wordlessly nodded before Ibuki and Sarai helped me off the ground and into the backseat of the car. Ibuki followed me in while Sarai circled around to the other side. She stopped in front of Mom.

"I'm sorry," she said with a bow. "I haven't introduced myself. My name's Sarai Ishikawa."

Mom chuckled. "My, how polite. You don't have to be that formal, though. My name's...er...Yuna." I rolled my eyes. I was pretty sure she knew about my armor, so what was the point in giving her an assumed name?

Which reminds me, am I legally 'Iris Sakamoto' or 'Iris Nomura', anyway?

"So..." Ibuki droned. "Anything you want to tell your best friend?"

I mulled over it a moment, trying to come up with an answer. One finally came to me.

"I like that dress."

Smooth.

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, Iris. You've been holding out on me."

I sighed and leaned my head back as the car pulled forward. "Okay...it's kinda hard for me to explain."

"Try me."

Another sigh escaped my lips so that I could collect my thoughts. Where do I start? "Okay, so have you two ever heard of Zero?"

"You mean the Reploid that saved the world?" Sarai asked. I nodded. "What about him?"

"Well..." I took a deep breath. "It's like this..."

A car ride and one explanation that lasted much longer than it should have later...

{"Wait, how can a Reploid have a kid?"

"Ibuki, do you want to play 20 Questions, or do you want to hear what I have to say?"

"...sorry.")

...we pulled up to our house. Sarai and Ibuki helped me hobble out of the car and up to the front door while Mom unlocked it.

"So..." Ibuki said as we hopped up a small step. Mom walked into the kitchen to get something. "Let me get this straight. You want us to believe that not only did the two biggest people in the world survive the war, but that they're not only living in the public eye and..." To help emphasize her next point, she pointed at our house. "...in _this_ little run-down shack? And that _you're_ their daughter?"

My face fell flat as the two helped me sit on the couch. "You wanna ask that a little louder? I don't think my Mom heard that."

"Oh, I did." Mom said as she returned to the living room with a small spray bottle in hand.. "I'm just choosing to let it go because I have more important things to do. Now then, let me see that leg again."

I rolled up my pant leg for the third time that day. Mom knelt down, aimed the bottle, and started spraying. Her lips moved slightly as if she were whispering something to herself, but I couldn't tell what she was saying. A small, tingling sensation ran throughout my shin and, before our disbelieving eyes, my wounds healed completely.

"Well," Ibuki said as I painlessly swung my leg a bit. "That's convenient. Wish our village had a bottle of that stuff."

"No kidding." Sarai agreed.

"What was that, anyway?" I asked. Mom looked up at me with a smile.

"Magic potion." She said simply. I rolled my eyes. I should've guessed she wouldn't say. "Arms." I held them out for her, allowing her to repeat the healing process. A couple seconds later, the idea that I had ever been burned in the first place seemed like a distant memory.

"Thanks, Mom." I said as I stood up. Everything felt fine, which was a huge relief after the irritating injuries I'd suffered in that fight. "Now then, I need to get to the Headquarters. Think you get me there?"

Mom raised an eyebrow and nervously chuckled. "Uh...what are you talking about?" She asked, trying to play things off. "I think you're letting your imagination run into your life again."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I _just_ told my friends just about everything about us, and you're just _now _trying to act like I'm making things up?" Mom stiffened a bit. I guess she hadn't put two and two together to get cat.

"Oh, right."

Rolling my eyes again, I headed over to the hidden door underneath our staircase. Once I was there, I turned to Ibuki and Sarai.

"Now, you guys can't say anything about this to anyone. Got it?"

Ibuki rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. "We're ninja, Eye. We can keep a secret. Besides, it's not like anything you do is gonna make me believe your crazy story, Ms. 'Nomura'." She stressed the last name and added 'air quotes' for added effect. I just smiled.

"Sure, chick. Just like you remember how much I hate it when you call me that." Turning back to the wall, I ran my thumb along where I thought it might've been. A small green flash confirmed my suspicions and, a moment later, the retractable segment slid away, revealing the stairway down to the Command Center.

I turned back around to see three faces that held expressions they didn't have a moment before. One adult face wore a smirk, while two teenage faces could almost taste the floor with how low their jaws were hanging.

"Doubt me now?"

Without bothering to wait for their responses, I made my way down the steps. Mom probably had to shove them toward the stairs, because it was a while before I heard more footsteps down those same stairs than could've belonged to one person. Once I'd reached the bottom, I turned on the light, sat down at an empty desk and waited.

Didn't have to wait long.

"Whoa..." Ibuki droned as she walked into the Command Center. "Where did all _this_ come from?"

"Are we really underneath the same house?" Sarai asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, but we won't be for long." Mom walked over to the computer I was next to and started typing rapidly. Once again, watching her would've been useless considering that she types much more quickly than I could ever _hope_ to follow. A second later, the Trans Server in the corner of the room started to pulse blue light, catching the eyes of Ibuki and Sarai.

"And we're all set." Mom said as she backed away. The two ninja walked toward the square.

"What's this thing?" Ibuki asked. I put on my best sly smile and walked up behind her.

"You really wanna know?" I asked. Again, without waiting for her response, I did the one thing every true friend does in a situation like this.

I shoved her into the square.

Just like the time Mom, Dad and I took the trip to HQ, Ibuki's body was covered in a brilliant glow. A bright pink encompassed her entire form before launching into the air. I turned to Sarai, who stared at the now yellow square

"Your turn." I said as wickedly as I cold. Sarai picked up said jaw and nodded slowly.

"If you don't mind..." She said nervously. "I'd like to go through the gentle way."

My smile grew a bit. "Fine, but wait for it to turn blue again." A few seconds later, a little longer than I'd hoped, the square finally pulsed blue again. Sarai slowly stepped in. A light gray covered her as she was transported. I waited a few seconds myself before turning toward Mom.

"Are you coming, too?" I asked. She shook her head.

"No. I called your father before picking you up, so he's likely screaming down the roads to get here. I'm going to try and calm him down before he does anything stupid."

I nodded. Dad wasn't exactly the type to lose his cool over most things, but according to him...

"_When it comes to my family, absolutely nothing is more important."_

...and then he'd go on about tearing anyone who would hurt us into tiny little pieces. I never really listened to that part, since before I knew who he was I never would've considered the idea that he'd even _insult_ someone.

"Well," I said as I stepped to the Trans Server. "I'm off to meet with a few weirdos. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Be careful."

With another silent nod, I waited for the line to clear and stepped into the square. Tingles ran up and down my body and various lights started to fill my vision.

I love taking trips on a Trans Server.

* * *

**Trivia Answer: Venjix, main villain of _Power Rangers RPM_, refers to the Rangers as "five brightly colored nuisances" at one point in a one-line taunt. This also happens to be a line spoken by his counterpart in _Engine Sentai Go-Onger_.  
**


	23. Episode 6: Part 3

**By the Guardians of X, it's been a long time since I was able to present another portion of the tale of Iris. Work has been _extremely_ demanding over the past couple of weeks, so finding time to work on it was a challenge in and of itself. But, enough about that. On with the show!  
**

* * *

What felt like a mere moment later, though I'm willing to bet a few seconds had passed, I found myself both wanting to watch the light show one more time and in front of the Maverick Hunter Corps HQ. Seeing the building made a question pop up in my head.

Why can't I ever be sent_ inside_ the thing? That way I wouldn't have to risk seeing it from the outside and getting that chilling feeling down my spine.

Instead of looking at it, because I'd have been tempted to look up at the whole thing, I opted to search for the friends I'd pretty much forced into coming here.

For the record, it's not kidnapping unless they actually _say_ they don't want to go anywhere. I think.

I found them a couple of feet away from where I'd set down. They were taking in the sights of the city around us, slowly strolling in a small circle. I managed to catch up to them rather easily.

"Your story is getting more and more believable, Eye." Ibuki said as she spun around in circles. "This place is huge!" That drew a few odd looks in our general direction.

Sarai held a hand over her eyes as if she were trying to see past the buildings. "Where are we, anyway?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I'm just kinda dropped off here. I don't even know if we're in the same country."

"And what the heck happened to us, anyway?" Ibuki added. "It felt like I had ants running all over me during some kind of light show."

"I'm not sure how it works, exactly. All I know is that I don't ever want to get used to it." That part was true. I love that ride. "Anyway, let's get inside. I've got a meeting I need to go to."

I started toward the HQ with Ibuki and Sarai following closely behind.

"Wow..." I could hear Sarai say as we closed in on our destination. "That's one _really _tall building."

I tried not to look up too. "Yeah..."

A couple minutes worth of walking passed. Ibuki and Sarai soaked in the sights of the inside of one of, if not _the_ largest law enforcement agencies in the world. Once we'd reached the elevators that'd take us where I wanted to go, a familiar mass of humanity stopped us.

Again.

"Hold on, there." Tiny said, holding a hand out in front of him. I rolled my eyes.

"Bad short term memory?" I asked. Tiny shook his head.

He raised an eyebrow. "No. You're getting on the wrong elevator."

Huh? "Huh?"

"Orders from Colonel Blaze." Oh boy. He thumbed toward an elevator on the other side of the lobby. "That's the one you've gotta get on. Take that one to Sublevel 3."

"Sublevel 3." I repeated. "Got it. Any particular reason why?"

Tiny shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just the muscle here. I don't get involved in things that I shouldn't be."

Good policy to live by. I started toward the elevator Tiny pointed us to before he stopped me again.

"Those two aren't going anywhere." He said, pointing to Ibuki and Sarai. "No civilians allowed." Before I could offer to defend them, Ibuki held out her hand.

"Relax, big boy." She said. "We're from the Cutting Shadow clan."

He raised an eyebrow. "The ninja clan?" Both teens nodded. Tiny scratched his head. "Alright. Go on ahead." With that, the two walked past me, toward the elevator. I stood there for a second, thinking about what had just happened. If I just blindly claimed that I was from a ninja clan when I first ran into this guy, could I have avoided the confrontation that preceded the meeting between myself and Tango?

I followed Ibuki and Sarai to the elevator. Sarai thumbed the button that would take us down to where I needed to go.

"How long have you been doing this, anyway?" Ibuki asked.

"Just a couple days, really." I said. "Not long enough for me to know what all these Maverick attacks are all about, anyway."

"There's a reason behind them?" Ibuki asked.

"Pretty sure there is," I said as I leaned up against a wall. "The problem is that they don't seem like it. And what about you two? Where did that whole 'Cutting Shadow' thing come from? I thought you didn't want people knowing who you are?"

Ibuki smirked. "Our clan has an alliance with the Maverick Hunter Corps. Sects all over the world assist Maverick Hunter units whenever they need it."

Sarai smiled herself. "Apparently, our Clan Elder has some kind of special relationship with one of the Corps' Generals."

Huh. "Huh."

A short ride later, a ding and sliding doors revealed our destination.

A hallway.

We stepped out and looked around a bit. There weren't any doors or anything that we could see. Following it down led to what looked like a dead end.

"Looks like this is it." Ibuki said.

Great. Why did we come down here if there wasn't anything to see or anywhere to go? I looked the wall that ended the hallway over closely, hoping to find some kind of sign that would tell me where to go.

The wall flickered slightly.

Found it. I smiled. Just to be sure, I raised my hand and set it on the wall.

Or tried to, anyway. My hand passed through slightly, confirming my suspicions. Ibuki, who'd apparently noticed what I was doing, set a hand on my shoulder.

"Nice," she said. The three of us, deciding it was safe since I hadn't been electrocuted or anything, passed through the hologram that created the illusion of the wall. On the other side was a room that looked similar to the Command Center a few, okay more than a few, floors above. Middy and Techno sat at computer terminals, working on whatever they were working on.

Descriptive, I know.

At the center of the room was a small glowing blue circle. I figured it might've been a Trans Server, meaning I might be able to convince Mom to connect the one in our house to that one. Surrounding _that_ circle was a small group of people. One of them was Colonel Snow Cap, while the rest were people that I didn't recognize.

Not that that separated them from everyone else.

What _did_ were the uniforms that the others in the circle. They were all similar gray jackets and slacks with black shoes. Each uniform, however, had a slightly different design. The shoulders and a stripe down one side of the uniform each bore a different color. One, a man with dark skin and black hair, had red on his. Another, light skin and 'dirty' blond hair in a stylized swoop, I guess, wore blue. Green had similarly light skin with spiked brown hair. The one with yellow had long black hair. Pink had equally long blond hair and, unlike the rest, seemed to have an aura of arrogance.

Wait.

Those colors looked familiar.

The second the three of us walked into the room, an alarm went off. Everybody but those five snapped around to look at us. The ones that had them drew Buster Pistols and aimed them directly at us. We all snapped our hands up defensively.

"Iris?" Middy asked from his desk.

"Heck's wrong with you, bringing civvies into my house, girl?" Techno said. Colonel Snow Cap turned to look at him with a mostly flat look, save for a single raised eyebrow. "...your house. Sorry."

Colonel Snow Cap turned back to us. "Well?"

"We're from the Cutting Shadow clan." Ibuki said for the second time that day. Sarai snapped her head up and down frantically. Colonel Snow Cap stared at us for a second before waving one of his hands. The armed members of the room slowly withdrew their weapons. The three of us released matching deep breaths. I didn't know I was holding one in, and I don't think the other two were too aware either.

"Now then," Colonel said as he beckoned us over. "Let's get this little impromptu meeting underway. I trust you've met our friends from Space Patrol Delta?"

"I'm Jack." The one in red said, offering his hand. I took "Sorry about earlier. We kinda jumped to conclusions there."

"We?" The one with yellow remarked. "You just saw black and charged right in."

Jack rolled his eyes. "And you guys followed me. Therefore, 'we' jumped to conclusions. Anyway, these are my teammates: Sky..." The one in blue nodded. "...Bridge..." Green waved happily. "...Z..." A small nod from Yellow. "...and Syd." Pink waved slightly.

"I'm Iris," I introduced. "These are my friends, Ibuki and Sarai." The two nodded. That's when the twins decided to jump up from their positions and joined us at the circle.

"I'm Middy Wave." The twin introduced himself. "I'm her Field Technician, along with my brother Techno over there." Said purple-based twin waved.

Wait. 'Wave'? Was that supposed to be a joke?

"Now that the introductions are over with," Colonel Blaze said. "How about we get to the reason why you people are here?"

"Ah, right." Jack nodded to Techno, who ran back to the computer he was on a moment ago and typed in a few commands. The small blue circle we were all standing around lit up and an image of the bat-thing from eariler popped up.

"This is Broodwing. He's an intergalactic black market trader who deals in weapons and robots."

Sky spoke next. "He's wanted on several planets for selling illegal weapons and aiding terrorist insurrections."

"Oh!" Bridge interrupted. "And jaywalking!"

"...Jaywalking?" I asked, craning my neck and raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. "Jaywalking."

Z rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we were tracking him around the world and found him here. Well, Iris did."

"So what's he doing in Neo Arcadia?" Colonel Blaze asked.

"Best guess," Jack responded. "He's probably trying to spread his influence a little more on Earth."

"And line his pockets while he's at it." Sky added. "He's only really interested in making a profit. He aligns himself with the highest bidder."

Only wants to make money? That sounded slightly familiar.

"Okay," Middy said. "So where does that leave us? Who can he go to when money's the one thing he's after?"

Ibuki brought a hand to her chin. "I don't suppose knocking off a few banks is his style?"

"No," Sky answered. "He'd rather set up a contact somewhere. That'd get him the money he wants, and it'd keep his hands clean, just like he likes it."

We all thought about it for a moment. Where could someone like Broodwing (odd name, that) go if he wanted to set up a black market deal?

Wait...

Now's a good time.

"I think I know." Heads turned to me, wanting me to continue. So I did. "We could take a look at Berkana Industries."

"Berkana Industries?" Middy craned his head this time. "Why there?"

"Well," I nervously shifted a bit. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but I dove in. "After the last Maverick attack, I found a piece of metal on the ground that had the Berkana Industries logo on it. It was on one of the Mechaniloids involved in the attack before Tango trashed them."

"...and?" Snow Cap droned.

"...and I took the liberty of visiting Cecelia, the daughter of the company's CEO. I asked her about how she was involved, and she denied having a hand in it. I faked leaving the building. As soon as I was out of her sight, she called in someone and told them to have me investigated. She said she wanted me out of the way before I 'become a threat'."

Jack pursed his lips. "Sounds good enough to me." The other members of his team nodded in agreement.

Colonel Snow Cap looked me over silently for a moment. I expected some kind of admonishment for taking things into my own hands. Or for not reporting this sooner. Or trespassing. Or something.

Instead, what I got was: "Good work, Sakamoto."

Huh? "Huh?"

Colonel Blaze crossed his arms. "Neo Arcadia's your jurisdiction. You get a lead on something, you follow it."

Cool. I get to play Detective.

"Now that we know where to start," Sky said. "I suggest we set up some surveillance around the building."

"It's pretty large," I said. Middy typed again, and a 3D map of Giga City popped up. In the center stood the tower in question. "There's a lot of places we'd need to keep an eye on."

"If we can set up a few cameras around the area," Jack said, "We'd be able to keep an eye on everything pretty easily."

"Iris," Techno tapped on my shoulder. "You can use Tango to help keep watch on the place."

I gave him a confused look. "How?"

He only smiled. "You're supposed to figure it out, remember?"

I rolled my eyes. Right. I forgot. The Waves didn't want to tell me everything my Threat Assessment and Neutralization Geared Ocelot partner was capable of.

Colonel Snow Cap cleared his throat. "Well then, if that's everything, then you'll need to get moving. I'll leave the plan formulation to all of you." He then looked directly at me. "If those two make contact, things could get seriously out of hand. Berkana Industries is a worldwide corporation, and if they have some sort of plan to take over Neo Arcadia, or anything like that, then it's only a matter of time before they use that influence to try and corner the world. Don't let that happen."

I nodded. "Got it." With that, the five S.P.D. officers filed out of the room. Colonel Snow Cap started to follow them. That was when I remembered that I had something else important that I needed to talk to him about.

"Uh...Colonel Blaze?" He stopped and turned to me, his face still expressionless. Was he ever really happy? "Look, I know I've got a lot to live up to, using my father's old name and all..."

He shifted his stance a bit, showing that at least he was listening. "...And?"

I sighed deeply. Might as well say it. "I need help. I can't do this on my own. You know what happened to me on the last couple of attacks. I got torn apart. I don't know how many more beatings I can take before things really get out of hand."

Colonel Snow Cap stared wordlessly at me for a minute. I thought he was trying to come up with an answer that took longer than, but essentially meant 'no'. Instead, after letting the pause between us stagnate for a while, his eyes shifted between the Wave twins before walking away.

I still can't believe that's their surname.

Said twins traded looks with one another. Smiles grew on their faces as they turned to face me.

"Uh..." I expertly said, nerves lining the word. "What are you guys smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing." Middy said.

Techno walked past us, beckoning us along the way. "Follow me." Sarai, Ibuki and I traded our own looks. The twins looked amused between them. _We_ were worried. Techno led the four of us to an elevator. Once we were all in, Middy thumbed a button and the elevator started its descent.

What were the Waves smiling about? Why didn't Colonel Snow Cap say anything when I told him I needed help? Where were we going, anyway? Questions of all kinds swam through my head as we went further and further down, and I was pretty sure my friends were thinking the same.

Eventually, the elevator came to a stop. I had no idea how far down we were or what the Waves had in mind. The doors opened and the twins walked out with us in tow. I tried to look around, but there wasn't much to see. The only lights in the hallway came from thin glowing lines near the ground. I followed the footsteps in front of me and hoped that I wouldn't run into them. The last thing I needed to do was embarrass myself again.

After what seemed like forever, which seemed like something that was happening a lot today, Middy and Techno came to a stop in front of a door.

s

"Behind this door..." Middy started.

"...is the answer to your wildest dreams." Techno finished, prompting me to roll my eyes. I couldn't tell what my friends' reactions were, but I had a feeling that they felt similarly to me.

Two green lights, one on either side of the door, lit up as the twins activated them. The door slid open, allowing light from the inside flow out into the hallway. The five of us entered, and the first things I saw forced my eyes to grow in size.

It wasn't the answer to my wildest dreams. More like my prayers.

Inside glass cases similar to the ones I found at home sat three very different sets of armor. One was mainly pink, with blue and gold accent lines running all around it. The joints were covered by some kind of a gray mesh. The helmet seemed to have an adjustable visor on it. The second was a large, green set. It seemed too bulky for normal movement. The third was a small solid white set. Small yellow wings extended from the back, while each shoulder displayed a small red cross.

"These are your teammates." Middy said.

"Well, potential future teammates." Techno added. "We don't have anyone lined up that can operate these armors yet."

Anxiety set in. "How long until you can get someone?"

Middy shrugged. "Can't say. You see, these armors are unique. They have special traits about them that require just the right operator."

"'Special traits'?" Ibuki asked. Techno nodded. "Like what?"

The twins traded another set of looks. This one seemed to last a little longer, with their facial expressions shifting slightly. They must've been having one of those "expression conversations" between them. Techno finally rolled his eyes and walked away. Apparently, Middy won.

"The armors," Middy started, turning toward the sets. "...base their abilities on the physical aspects of the operator. The abilities are extremely demanding. So much so that almost nobody in the world can actually use them. Only people with the right genetic profile, something that they're born with, by the way, can even remotely _hope_ to use them."

I was confused. "So then, why are they here?"

"We're looking for the right operators." Techno said from the other side of the room. He clearly wasn't too happy. "In order to find the people who can use these armors to their fullest extent, we're having to scan the DNA of just about every person we can possibly scan. It's entirely possible that we _won't_ find the right people."

"But," Middy interjected. "Enough about that. Right now, you've got a stake you need to out. Or, something like that..." With that, he ushered us out of the room. He had a point. I needed to meet up with the officers and come up with a plan.

Ideas started to flow into my mind. As we rode the elevator back up to the ground floor, I could only hope that one of them might be a good one.

* * *

**Trivia time! Simple one this time: What was the joke Iris asked about?**


	24. Episode 6: Final

**Iris walks out onto a stage, a single spotlight following her. She stops near the center, turns to the audience, and deeply bows.**

**Iris: Thank you all for joining us on our story thus far. We sincerely apologize for the extended break. As it turns out, our Director found out shortly after our previous release that our writing staff messed up royally in regards to this episode and the last. Basically, the timing of the episodes was thrown out of whack. After a month of firing, hiring and quiet seclusion hidden behind countless bottles of a particular name-brand soft drink and another month of replanning, not in that particular order, the decision was made to extend this episode. So, if you would, please enjoy this extended episode. Thank you.**

**Also, please excuse our mess. Our Director...expressed his appreciation to his previous writing staff for their support. We're doing our best to clean the bodies...er...mess up.**

* * *

As the elevator rose, I found it rather difficult to grasp onto one of the ideas that zoomed through my mind. After all, it's not everyday that a not-so-regular teenager has to try and come up with a plan to watch a massive building for a what could've been an unlikely meeting between two people, one of which who's intentions I may have misinterpreted.

Okay, so maybe not. But maybe the means?

Maybe?

"So..." Ibuki droned. "Got any bright ideas?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I can't really think of anything long enough to build off of it, you know."

Sarai shook her head too. "Makes sense. You're a little young and inexperienced for this kinda thing, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I've only been doing this for about half a week, after all."

Ibuki sighed. "So short, the time spent. So little, the experience gained."

"Shut up."

The elevator came to a stop at the ground floor, doors opening to allow us to leave. I could only scratch my head as we walked through the lobby and toward the front doors.

Maybe we could...? No...

How about if we...? No, that wouldn't work either, would it?

Oh, I know! We could...

Darn it.

Wonderful. There was nothing I could really come up with that would actually work, could it? No matter what I tried to think up, I couldn't take any of those plans past an initial thought. The second an idea came to mind, the part of my brain that likes to shoot things down put holes in them like plasma cannons through glass. I brought my thumb up to my lips and bit down on my nail.

Apparently, my so-called "best friend" took that as an opportunity to take a jab at me. "Oh look. Little Iris is so deep in thought." Is it any wonder we get along so well? "She's in so deep, she doesn't even notice the steps right in front of her."

"Steps?" I asked. It was just late, though, because I'd realized that my foot was a...er...foot or two too high from solid ground. As I was losing the balance I would've kept for a second or two longer, my arms flailed around me. Just as I was able to right myself, though, a devilish voice came from behind me.

"You wanna know what happens if you fall?"

I shivered slightly. "Have mercy..."

"Nope." Ibuki gave me a hard shove from behind and, once again I nearly toppled over the short flight of steps. At this point, realization might've crossed my face, likely followed closely by pavement. So this was how it would end, was it? My life story, brought to an anticlimactic close at the hands...er...ridges...of a short staircase.

Ibuki and Sarai caught my arms before that could happen and pulled me back toward safety.

The same evil voice whispered into my ear. "Now you know how it feels."

I turned to regard said "best friend" with the fiercest gaze I could muster. "I really hate you sometimes."

She just stared for a second before letting a small laugh escape her lips. "It's much easier to take something like that seriously when you're not pouting."

What? Me? Pouting? I could feel my glare, _glare_, intensify. Ibuki _had_ to be insane. What would I have to pout about, exactly? I don't pout. I don't cry. I haven't cried since...

I guess my features shifted to reflect what I was thinking, because Sarai opted to step in at that point.

"Ibuki. That was a little harsh."

Ibuki noticed the way I looked at her and winced. "Sorry, Iris. I didn't mean that."

The two ninja set me back onto solid and stable ground, though I didn't release my gaze when they released my arms. What was Ibuki thinking? How could she say something like that to me? I wanted to hit her for that so badly. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that _she_ actually could, then she'd make me pay for trying. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I decided to try and calm down. After all, she probably didn't think about what she was going to say before actually saying it. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves.

And with that, all was forgiven.

For now.

"If you girls are done playing around," A voice said from behind us. Following it, I found someone in a blue uniform, swooshed hair and an overconfident aura. Sky had apparently broken off from the rest of his group to find us. "We've got a job to do."

What is it with me and being surrounded by workaholics?

"Alright." I said. "Let me get home first."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would you do that?"

Because I needed to change and see if my shoes were dry yet. "Because I need to...er..get someone." That sounded good. It also didn't occur to me that a special someone sitting at home would be of some help too, so that was a plus.

Sky shifted on his feet a bit. "I don't think getting another civilian involved is a good idea."

I turned away and started slowly down the steps, making sure I didn't tempt fate or anything. Ibuki and Sarai followed behind me, worrying me a bit."Don't worry about it. He's...not exactly a civilian."

"Well, unless whoever this is is extremely important, I wouldn't get him involved. He'd probably just slow us down." I smiled and turned around.

"Don't worry about that. He can't do anything but help." And with that, the three of us left him behind and made our way back toward the spot we arrived on.

"So...do you have a plan?" Ibuki asked just before I stepped onto the square that would take us back to my house. I paused about half a step away from the box. I really wished she hadn't asked that.

_No,_ I thought. _I don't have a plan. I don't have any idea what to do and I think that getting changed is a bit more important than figuring out how to interrupt a meeting between a space felon and a future teenage one._

"One's coming together." I said. "I just need a little time to iron out the details."

Wow. I'm such a good liar.

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "Wow, you're such a bad liar." She shrugged. "Whatever. Just let us know when you've got something to work with."

Deciding that I didn't need to go home right at that second, I spun on my heels and faced my best friend and new friend. "Thanks, but I don't think getting you guys involved is the best idea."

"It may be a little late for that." Sarai replied. "We _did_ kinda jump in back at the mall."

Oh, yeah. "Well, yeah. Still, I think I'll be able to handle this myself."

"Plus five." Ibuki added.

"Right. Anyway, you guys should head home once we get back." The two teen ninjas nodded in agreement, though something told me that it wasn't going to be that simple. Oh well. I turned back around and stepped onto the box and let myself be whisked away.

* * *

Back at home, it took a little more convincing and a lot of shoving to get Ibuki and Sarai to go home. I knew something was up when they agreed so easily back at...wherever MHCHQ is. I'd have to look that up or ask sometime. It never occurred to me how much I didn't like being teleported to somewhere I didn't know about.

I took a deep breath as I stood outside my front door, watching as the two walked down the street.

"That certainly took long enough." I said to nobody in particular. I stepped back into my house and upstairs to the nearest shower. After a day of exhausting work that wasn't even finished yet, I would really need it. I also had a feeling that Mom and Dad weren't going to be too happy about the increased water bill if I was going to take a shower after every fight. Thankfully, neither of them were immediately around to express their opinions about it. Where were they, anyway? They weren't there when I got home...

Oh well. Nothing beats the soothing feeling of hot water washing away all of the day's issues and preparing you for a whole new set. The entire time, ideas continued to flow in and out of my head. It got to the point that I started drawing out plans on the shower wall. If it weren't for the fact that the drawings were entirely made of water, and that they were in my shower which would make this whole analogy creepy, I'm pretty sure some sports coach out there would've been proud of them.

Again, nothing stuck.

Once I was done, I headed back to my room to find some clothes to wear. I found that everything I was wearing earlier that morning had been washed and dried, including my tennis shoes. That much I was thankful for, because I _really_ wanted my shoes. Nothing against flip-flops, but it's a lot easier to fight when you don't have to worry about losing your stuff _and_ getting hit in the head.

Not that I wasn't worried about that to begin with. Being hit in the head is _never_ fun.

Once dressed, I sat back down on my head, crossed one arm over my chest, sat the elbow of the other arm on top, and began tapping my head repeatedly.

"Thinkthink...thinkthink...thinkthink..."

It was official. This was such a conundrum, another word I'd never thought I'd use, that I had to enter my deep thought mode. I was just glad that neither Ibuki nor Sarai were there. One of them would've mocked me about it. It would've been embarrassing for the other to see me that way.

"Thinkthink...thinkthink...thinkthink..."

There was the obvious step. Six pairs of eyes could keep watch over the area if my guess about the space bat was right. That, I pretty much had down and figured the SPD officers would've decided, too. It was the combination of an unknown office and response times that I couldn't find a solution for. No matter what I could think of, none of it had the kind of response that it needed. Even if the guy _did_ show up, I didn't have a way to get up to the office that I couldn't remember fast enough to catch him. Heck, I couldn't even remember which office belonged to Berkana in the first place.

Then, at that moment, the answer leaped into my lap.

Tango, new to my deep thinking mode, apparently took it as an invitation to nuzzle. In any other situation, I probably would've obliged him. What with my love for cats and all. Instead, I ended up jumping slightly at his sudden appearance in my lap.

I blank-blinked at him for a second. He returned the look in kind. A few seconds of blank-blinking passed before a wide grin formed on my face. Why Tango didn't occur to me sooner was the last thing on my mind. All that mattered was that Tango, with his ability to form a jetpack addition for my armor, was the solution I was looking for.

"Say," I asked him, despite the fact that he couldn't really answer me. "Wanna help me on a mission?"

He batted his nose with a paw and let out a loud meow. I took that as a yes. Not that I was looking for some other kind of answer. I picked him up and walked downstairs toward the secret headquarters.

For the record, in order to get into the cold room from the second floor, one has to descend around a hundred steps. And just less than a fifth of those steps separate the ground floor from the second. That makes for one long trip.

Once I was down there, however, I realized that I hadn't even gotten to the Berkana Industries tower before I'd hit my first snag.

I had no idea how to work the Trans Server, and as far as I knew, Mom wasn't home.

"Okay..." I said, more to myself than the Ocelot-based Mechaniloid in my arms. "Well, this is grand."

I sat down at the computer I was sure Mom used to work the Trans Server. Maybe I could figure out how to operate it? I tapped the small power button on the screen.

As if by some some force of nature, lines and lines of computer code began streaming across the screen. I never new such a random assortment of letters, numbers and symbols could be so dizzying. I turned off the monitor before it had a chance to bless me with a migraine. So much for that plan.

"Need some help?"

I jumped at the voice that suddenly emanated from behind me. Tango and I quickly snapped to the source: Mom.

In a white, sweat-soaked T-shirt and sweat pants with a towel draped over her shoulders.

I scratched my cheek nervously. "Uh...yeah...what were you doing?"

"Running." Mom answered without missing a beat. I raised an eyebrow to that answer. "What, you think I keep this gorgeous figure by looking at auto-paint screens all day?"

I shrugged. Good enough for me. I got up, while Mom took my place at the computer.

"So, where do you need to go?"

"Berkana Industries." I said simply. Tango and I walked onto the square that would send us to wherever it was Mom was going to plant us.

Mom nodded. "Sounds good." A few keystrokes later, the square pulsed its familiar blue color before everything was replaced with tingles and shining lights.

Hopefully things would move a little more smoothly than they had earlier in the day.

* * *

**Puns are fun!**

**Anyway, new reference in this one. Might be a good chance to work on your deep thinking mode.  
**


	25. Episode 7: Emergency!

**After a case of writer's block that was harder to get over than the camera angles in MMX 7, the story of Iris continues. Please enjoy.  
**

* * *

Two seconds.

That's all it takes for someone to be transported to just about anywhere in the world.

Maybe.

I think.

Though, even if that isn't right, it's the best ride a person can ever take in their life. A brilliant visual symphony of lights and colors plays out right before your eyes. A dance of pure beauty and wonderment takes place a short distance from where you stand.

If you can call it standing, anyway. It's more like..."floating," I guess. You're never really _standing_ on anything.

Unfortunately, the rides through the Trans Servers are far too short to really enjoy, and before I knew it, I found myself on solid ground with a Mechaniloid Ocelot in my arms. A whole new color show began playing in front of me. Instead of being beautiful lights, though, they were the standard colors one would see in downtown Giga City. The various colors that belonged on vastly differing outfits and, in many cases, body builds.

Another advantage that a Trans Server ride has over normal transportation? No sound. The lights play out in total silence, making it a real spectacle for the imagination. That's part of the reason that I found myself once again disappointed with the landing. Once I snapped back to reality, the hustle and bustle of city life once again reminded me that I have ears and cities are loud.

I cringed slightly as Tango jumped down. It was as if sound itself decided to slam right into my ear drums as hard as possible. With Tango now on the ground, I was able to snap my hands up to my ears to try and mute the noise a bit.

This is probably what I get for having Mom plant me right in the middle of the city.

It took a few seconds, but I eventually readjusted to the noise level. That meant that I could take my hands off of my head and glare a bit at the random passerby who apparently thought it was a little odd for a person to have to shield their ears in the middle of the street.

"Geez..." I muttered, more to myself than to Tango. "You'd think they'd never seen a girl in pain before."

I looked at my wrist, thankful that the ever useful, ever handy watch Middy gave me was wrapped around it. Funny thing about that, though, was that I didn't remember putting it on as I was getting dressed. Was I already at the point where being prepared for some kind of disaster was second nature?

Anyway, I read the numbers on the watch's face.

2:00 PM.

Just barely afternoon. Man, was this day _dragging_.

Tango and I began to walk through the crowd that composed a Saturday afternoon. Mom's aim had apparently gotten a little better, because across the street from where I landed was the building where illegal things were likely either happening or in the planning process. We walked in what was essentially a circle around the block that Berkana Industries encompassed.

Seriously. What is it with these buildings and their architect's apparent need to make them as big as humanly possible? I mean, granted, this _is_ a pharmaceutical company and they _might_ need the room for some of the equipment that they would need to work on their medical stuff, but still...

After the first lap, we started on another. This time, I glanced up at the top of the building from time to time. I couldn't remember which one of the windowed offices was _hers_, and that was a huge problem. If some kind of intergalactic criminal was going to meet with her like I thought, and _that_ thought was a huge stretch, then it might've been some kind of help if I could memorize which one of them she called her own.

A chill went down my spine. I couldn't believe how easily and badly she'd beaten me when we fought, and how stupid I made myself look trying to one-up her.

About halfway through the lap, I learned that it's important to watch where you're going and to not lose yourself in your thoughts. A lesson learned the hard way, if the body I ended up slamming into was any indication.

The man I hit was barely fazed, stumbling for only a step or two. I, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. I ended up losing my balance, painfully sacrificing both my dignity and my backside as I fell back. A few of the people walking around us turned to see the mini spectacle. Some of them gave small laughs at my expense. Freak show, today at 2.

Thanks, jerks. And to think, I'm working to keep all of you safe and sound. Nice show of gratitude.

"Here," The guy I bumped into chuckled a bit himself as he offered a hand. "Lemme help."

I wordlessly accepted the hand. Once I was up, I took a second to look the guy I'd hit over. The guy had dark skin and black hair. I kept my eyes on his, simply because of the screaming red T-shirt he decided was a good idea to wear and apparently not a pain in the eyes for anyone else capable of seeing. He looked oddly familiar, though...

"You okay, Iris?" He asked, still smiling after his laugh. How did he know my...

Oh. Right. Now I remember.

I scratched the back of my head kinda sheepishly. "Hey, Jack. Sorry about that."

He laughed again. "No worries. I guess standing in the middle of the street kinda puts me in the way, doesn't it?" I wordlessly nodded in agreement. No need to add to my embarrassment by adding a little 'jerk' to the mix. He looked up at the old Slither Inc, now Berkana Industries building. "It's a little bigger than I was expecting."

I nodded. "Yeah. Holograms tend to scale things down a bit."

Again, he laughed. I was kinda starting to feel like a lame comedian trying to buy a laugh or two. "Not exactly what I meant. TV broadcasts make the place seem about the same size as everything else around here." He craned his head back, trying to see the top. "How far up are we talking?"

I scratched the back of my head. "I'm not really sure. I had a little help getting to Berkana's office and I didn't exactly pay attention."

Jack looked over to me. "How'd you get there?"

Tango chose that particular moment to climb his way up onto my shoulder. "He gave me a lift." I could see the puzzled look on Jack's face. After all, the look lasted on his for a few seconds and he didn't bother trying to hide it anyway. I just offered a small shrug. "I'll explain later."

When I understood it myself.

He shrugged himself. "Works for me. We've got a spot set up as a little base of operations. Care to head over?"

"Sure." I nodded. Tango hopped off of my shoulder. Together, the three of us made our way down the road. It took a while for us to get to where we needed to go, since had to work our way through a couple crowds that gathered around some of the more popular shops in the area. It didn't help that Jack almost had to forcibly yank me away from a small ice cream stand and I just happen to be a sucker for the frozen treat. I mean, come on. Who can resist the pull of quite possibly the best meltable snack in the world?

I sure can't.

After about twenty minutes and three blocks later thanks to crowds and distracting goodness, Jack came to a stop right in front of a seven-story rundown apartment building.

"Well," He said, hand stretched out toward the building. "Here we are. The landlord agreed to let us borrow an empty apartment. The others are already there, setting everything up."

I looked the place over. It wasn't in the greatest shape possible. Heck, it wasn't even in _good_ shape. The outer steel shell that housed the numerous units was covered in dents and random paint drawings. A few of the windows that I could see were broken out. A few others were outright missing. I didn't even have to look down to see my partner's reaction. I could _feel _Tango's disappointment upon seeing the place.

I looked over at Jack and let him know exactly how I felt about the building at the time. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Sort of. Landlord said he keeps the front this way to try and discourage robbers. Thinks the rundown look makes it look like a less appealing target."

I shook my head. "Makes it look more tempting, if you ask me."

"Yeah, well, the place looks much better on the inside."

"I hope so." Tango meowed, probably in agreement. With that, the three of us made our way inside. The disappointing appearance continued in the lobby, as a dingy carpet that didn't look like it had been cleaned in several _years_, yet somehow didn't have the obligatory offensive smell, dared to spread itself across the floor. Cracks and scuffs all over the walls made the place seem older than it probably was, and a lack of lighting gave an air of a police interrogation room from centuries before. So far, it wasn't the kind of place I'd stay if I were on a vacation.

Then again, why would I come to Giga City for a vacation anyway?

Anyway, Jack led us beyond the lobby, where surprise struck me yet again. Turned out that he was completely right. The faults that were seen from the front were completely forgotten. The tacky, out-of-_health_ carpet was replaced by a dark blue one with a plaid design in various shades of whites and blues and a _ver_y maintained appearance. The walls were painted a basic white, and lights every couple of doors made sure we could see everything in the hallway.

"Right..." I said, slightly stupefied. "Remind me to never doubt an officer's word ever again."

Jack chuckled a bit. "At least, not ours."

We kept going for a few rooms, which gave me time to figure out whether the landlord was a mad genius for the initial appearance, or just plain mad. Just enough, it turned out, as he came to a stop in front of one of the doors.

"Here we are."

Room 115. Huh. Something about that number seemed familiar. I mentally shrugged. No real reason to get hung up over something stupid like a number, after all. Jack offered the door a couple of light knocks. We waited for a couple of seconds before it was opened. Not so much opened kindly as it was yanked to reveal a mess of curly hair and a smile that was way too sugary-sweet.

"Glad you could make it, Jack." Z stressed through clenched teeth. Something told me she wasn't in the best of moods at the moment. "It's not like we needed your help getting set up for the last three hours or anything."

Said man nervously scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Thought I'd...scout the area..."

Z rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Like you're _that_ forward thinking." She turned and greeted me with a more genuine smile. "Hey there."

I saw her smile and raised her a small wave. "Hi."

Z stepped to the side. "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in. We could use your and the useless one's help."

"Don't mind if we do."

As we moved to walk through the door, I noticed that my 'good' leg felt a little heavy. Great. One problem I _really_ didn't need. Things only got worse for me once I made it through. Among the visiting officers was a familiar figure carrying a box of who-knows-what inside. Said figure turned to us, smiled brightly and offered a short greeting, consisting simply of:

"Yo."

Three short, simple words ran straight through my head and out my mouth:

"Oh..._heck_ no."

* * *

**Trivia Time!**

**Answer: A classic from my childhood. Winnie the Pooh struck this pose when he went into a state of deep thought.**

**Question: Why would Iris get hung up even for a second on the hotel room? You might catch the answer if you've played any recently released first-person shooters.  
**


	26. Episode 7: Part 2

**Alright! Good news! Wait's over!**

* * *

Let's get something straight, shall we?

I have a badge.

Now, we all know that badges are usually a sign of importance. They're given to people with a kind of authority that basically lets you tell people that you're better than them and that they'd better listen to you if they know what's good for them.

At least, if you're that kind of jerk.

If you're not, then they're signs that what you say should probably be listened to, but it's not really a requirement. At the very least, it might be best that you listen to what they say.

With that in mind, one could probably understand why I stood in the middle of a mostly undecorated apartment, glaring viciously at the person in question while my left eye twitched violently and five almost complete strangers stared at us with a mix of confusion and interest.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here." Not so much a question as it was a subliminal suggestion that the person make themselves scarce. Quickly.

My so-called "best friend" simply smiled. "I thought I'd help out a bit."

I walked over to where Ibuki stood, dragging my gradually weight-gaining, feeling-losing leg behind me slightly. It's hard to get a failing leg to look like it's working just fine, let me tell you. Once I was right in front of her, I enthusiastically slapped my hands down onto her shoulders and began digging my fingers into her.

"I told you to go home." I growled and dug in harder. She began yelping in both pain and panic, considering that my grip started to drive her to her knees with a box in her arms.

"Stop!" She cried, slowly sinking to the ground. "I'm gonna drop this!"

"You'll be lucky if I don't drop you."

I kept digging, letting my frustration take over for a little while. That turned out to be a mistake on my part. As soon as she was low enough, Ibuki flung one of her legs out and swept me off mine. It goes without saying that my backside once again acted like a cushion and broke my fall.

"Now," she gloated a bit. "Who was going to drop who again?" I was too busy giving her a pained glare to actually answer her.

A few snickers and chuckles came from the people watching around us.

"You know," Z said, looking at Jack. "They kinda remind me of you and Sky a while back."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh please. We were _nothing_ like that."

Syd giggled a bit. "Sure you were. Only, you two weren't _that_ mature."

Sky rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Funny."

Great. Now I'm being compared to two guys who I barely know. I half expected my friend to pull a rubber nose out of my box and hand it to me.

I mean, what do I look like? A clown Reploid?

I huffed quietly for a second, none too happy with the people surrounding us. After the brief sulking, which also gave my poor backside a moment to recover from its second painful landing of the day, I finally pushed myself up to my feet and offered Ibuki a hand.

"Sorry." I said. "I just wasn't expecting you to be here or anything like that."

Ibuki set down her box and took my hand so I could pull her up. "No problem. To be honest, I didn't think that I'd be here either."

Wait, what?

She could see my confusion. "Yeah, I wasn't sure whether or not you needed my help. When I got home, I decided I might as well come out here and see what's up"

"I ran into her while we were unloading our stuff." Syd added. "She wanted to help, so I showed her where we were setting up."

I sighed. Ibuki was one of those stubborn types that you couldn't get to change her mind if you _payed her millions of Zenny to do so._ "Alright. But you can't say a word about this to anyone. Got it?"

Ibuki smiled again. "Iris. Give me a little more credit than that. I _can_ keep a secret, you know."

Right. I forgot. Secret keeping came with the whole 'ninja' thing.

"Now then," Jack said. "If we're just about ready, we should put a plan of action together."

"Right." Ibuki said. "Lemme finish this first." She picked up the box and started toward the door.

"Uh, what's in the box?" I asked.

Ibuki shrugged. "Nothing."

Wait, she didn't want to drop an empty box? Seriously?

We waited as Ibuki opened the door and disappeared for a moment. Not because she used some kind of cool ninja technique that caused her to vanish, or because she took off like a plasma bolt from a Buster Gun, but because she closed the door behind her.

Sometimes, though, I wished she'd do _something_ ninja-like, instead of constantly beating me up at the most inconvenient times.

A couple seconds later, she returned sans box. A little too quickly for a normal person to go throw out a cardboard box, but that's part of her whole thing, I guess.

Once we were ready, the eight of us (I count Tango as a person, thank you very much) circled around a table. Jack set a small circular projector at the center of the table and pressed a button. The projector displayed a small hologram of the tower and the surrounding area.

"Right." Jack started. "So, we're here." He tapped on the image of the apartment complex we were in, causing it to light up. "I'd think the best idea would be to get eyes all around the area. We could set up watch spots here, here and here." He tapped three spots surrounding the tower, and three small green lights turned on where he touched.

"Okay," Sky said. "So who gets to sit outside all day?"

"Well, I think you, Bridge and I should be the ones on the outside. We're less likely to fall asleep."

Z scoffed. "Gee, thanks."

"No, he's right." Syd said. "He's more likely to get bored and fall asleep or something."

This time, Jack was the one to scoff. "Gee, thanks."

"I could go out, too." Ibuki quickly offered, probably to try and steer away from an argument. "I can keep watch over any blind spots you guys might have."

Jack nodded. "Good idea. Z, Syd and Iris stay here. We'll set up cameras near our positions, that way if we miss anything you guys can let us know."

We all nodded in agreement. That worked out pretty well for me.

"Is there anything you could do to help?" I asked him. He meowed in response and raised a paw. I figured he was saying 'yes', but I had no idea what the paw meant. He waved it back and forth a bit before I realized what he was doing.

I followed his paw with my eyes and found that he was pointing to a window. He wanted to be let out for whatever it was he wanted to do.

"What do you think he's going to do?" Ibuki asked. I shrugged.

"I dunno. I'll just run with it, though." What else could I do? With my leg feeling like it was freezing up again, it was better that I didn't move around too much and make it worse. Not until I could get it looked at. Until then, I could only hope that my leg wouldn't get any worse than it already was.

Big hope.

Jack sighed. "Right. Now that we know what to do, I say we get out there and do it."

"Right!" The other officers chirped. Ibuki and I nodded. Time to do what we needed to do.

* * *

As it turns out, doing what I needed to do meant retreating to the apartment's restroom so I could do a little quick maintenance on my leg. Without my toolkit, which genius me left at the dorm room back at Hunter HQ, the best I could do was whap my leg a few times. I started getting some feeling in it, which was good. I just hoped that if things came down to it, it wouldn't give out on me again.

Once that was done and I wrote it off as a personal emergency to the other two in the apartment, it became a game of hurry up and wait. A game that we played by watching the monitor. A _really_ boring game. A couple of hours passed where nothing happened in bunches.

"This happens sometimes." Syd said in a rather laid back tone. She examined the fingernails she'd just finished tending to. "This is why most people hate stakeouts."

"Really?" I asked. "I though it was because so many things happened it was almost impossible to keep track of it all."

Z laughed a bit. "You and Sky would get along so well."

"Meh. Guy seems kinda abrasive."

"Don't let him get to you. He's actually a pretty nice person deep down."

I scoffed a bit. "Got me fooled."

"_Amusing._" Said sandpaper person replied over their communicators, which I learned were a feature on their badges. Why can't we have something like that? It's a little inconvenient for me to have to pick up a phone if I need to talk to someone important. "_Maybe you'd like to keep an eye out. It's not like we're trying to watch for an intergalactic criminal or anything._"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Nice guy."

It was at that point that a knock came from the door. The three of us turned in reaction. I got up to answer it.

"Be careful." Z said quietly. I nodded, but I didn't really see a point. After all, how many people in this area knew about any of us? Whoever was on the other side of the door knocked again, this time a little more urgently. I balled up a fist with each cautious step, not really wanting to risk being caught off-guard because of the fact that nobody was supposed to know that we were there. Once I got to the door, I stood off to the side that had the door's control panel. One hand came up to the panel, while the other was primed to potentially disengage some teeth.

I pressed the door's button, waiting for it to slide open to someone unprepared for a bad day.

Instead, when it opened, the three of us were greeted by a rather cheery, "Hey, guys!"

I rolled my eyes and relaxed. Of all the people that could be behind the door, it _would_ be the one person in the world who would not only spoil my surprise attack, but would also likely throw me out into the hallway and lock me out in one smooth motion.

Z and Syd, on the other hand, smiled brightly and responded at the same time. "Hey!"

Ibuki walked into the room, a couple of bags in her hands. "I thought you guys might need some lunch, so I went out and got you guys some sandwiches."

"Cool," I said, following the food. Z and Syd got up to join us while Ibuki set the food down. The second she did, though, she spun around and looked me in the eyes. "Can I talk to you in private?"

"Uh..." That caught me off-guard. Better than being caught like that at the door. "Sure."

"Everything okay?" Syd asked, kinda concerned. Z shared a similar expression, but didn't say anything.

Ibuki spun around again, this time meeting them with a sweet look that caught _all of us_ off-guard. "Everything's fine. We just need to talk about something kinda important." She turned back to me. "So, meet you in the hall?"

"Okay..." I said, making sure my tone made it clear that I was kinda curious about whatever it was she needed to talk about. We made our way out into the hallway, waiting until the door slid shut behind us before Ibuki said anything.

"Look, Iris," she said in a nearly whispering tone. "We've got a lot to talk about once this thing's over, but if what happened at the mall is any indication, this is probably going to be very dangerous. Are you sure you should be here right now?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'll explain later, but for now, let's just say that I've got something of an obligation to do this."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Berkana, does it?" I could almost hear the cynicism in her voice.

"Right now, it does. But she's not exactly the whole reason I'm doing this. That being said, I'd rather you not get involved any more than you already are."

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "You're really going to tell me that after what I've seen and done _and_ after I've volunteered for this?"

I shrugged a little. "You're my friend, and I don't want to see you get hurt." That prompted another eye roll, prompting _me _to defend my position. "You may be a ninja and all, but you don't exactly have the kind of protection that I do. You saw what the guys we're working with can do. For all I know, things can only get more dangerous the further this thing gets and the fact that I have a set of armor means I can take harder hits more often than you can."

"So then you're not planning on working on your defense, and instead you're going to leave it all to something that can fail without a moment's notice and leave you more vulnerable than me. And I _do_ have some protection."

I...had no answer for that. Maybe that was why she always won when it came to our sparring matches. Ibuki sighed. As stubborn as I said she was, she knew I was every bit the same. She turned to the box that I thought she'd thrown out but instead left by the door and reached in, pulling out something I hadn't expected.

Her gloves. Fingerless gauntlets that she wore whenever her clan gave her an assignment she needed to complete for them.

Which made almost no sense. I mean, if she didn't want people to know she was a ninja, why the heck would she leave fingerprints everywhere when she's on a job?

Anyway, that was probably her way of telling me that she wasn't going anywhere, whether I liked it or not.

"I'm not going anywhere, whether you like it or not."

Or that was.

I took a deep breath, releasing it in a slow sigh. "Fine, but you have to promise me that if things start getting out of hand, you'll get out right away."

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "I'm not you, Iris. I know how to get out when things are going to get bad."

Gee, thanks.

"No problem. Now let's get back inside and have us some lunch. I know you haven't eaten since this morning."

"And how would you know that?"

Ibuki smiled. "Because you just told me."

The palm of my hand met half of my face. "That figures."

"Just kidding." And with that, she walked back into the apartment. I followed right behind her, hoping that I could both get something to eat and figure out a way to get back at her for that.

I had to stew over that last one a bit. I had to make sure my payback was _good._

But first, lunch._  
_


	27. Episode 7: Part 3

When you have a friend willingly buy you lunch without you offering the suggestion, one of two things will happen. Either the food in question is going to be _really_ good, or it's going to be _really _bad. Either way, you know something you may not necessarily want to hear is coming pretty soon. You can also figure out the nature of what you're going to hear

That's why, when the sandwich Ibuki had gotten me was pretty good, I knew what it was _really_ for.

"You know," I said between bites. The four of us sat around the table, eating in comfort while the guys were outside. "You probably should've fed me _before_ our talk."

Syd gave me a confused look. "Why?"

"Because she'd have been feeling good when I needed to talk to her." Ibuki explained. She then turned to me. "Yeah, I kinda blew the order."

The blond officer still looked confused, which meant that I needed to explain things a bit more. "It's part of getting into someone's head. Get them feeling good so that you can drop bad news on them without hurting them that badly."

"So what did you need to talk about?" Z asked.

Ibuki shrugged. "Nothing much. Iris just missed some school time yesterday, so I told her I'd lend her my notes from our classes."

I nodded in agreement. It wasn't a total lie, after all. It wasn't like I hung out at home or anything.

On second thought, that's a poor choice of words.

Z, on the other hand, didn't seem too impressed. "And that required you to talk out in the hall about it?"

"Yeah." I said, putting a little irritation into my voice.. "I'm not big on putting my life out there for everyone to hear. _Thanks..._" With that, I made sure to stomp on Ibuki's foot, making her yelp a bit. "...friend."

Hey, I'm not above taking a cheap shot when the situation calls for it.

While Ibuki grimaced in pain and the other two laughed a bit, another knock came at the door. While it's nice that people apparently didn't want to be rude and barge into a room filled with people that knew how to kick much butt, the nearly constant stream of interruptions was really starting to grate my nerves.

Great. I'm starting to sound like an old person already. Next thing I know, I'll be...like...30...

Z answered the door this time, all of us ready to take action again. This time, a Jack with a goofy smile stood on the other side.

"Hey, guys." He said as he strolled in. Z hung her head a bit while Syd rolled her eyes.

"What're you doing here?" Z asked. It was getting to be pretty clear that she was the closest to normal in their group. Then again, the only measuring stick I had was a blonde who thought the condition of her nails was a little more interesting than looking for a criminal.

Jack let his smile fade a bit. "Nice seeing you, too." His eyes snapped to the food on the table. "What, nothing for me?"

"Sorry," Ibuki said. "I completely forgot about you guys."

A chuckle answered her. "It's cool. I was just kidding. Already ate."

"So, I ask again. Why are you here?"

"Well, I thought we could change shifts a bit. Bridge offered to come up here and watch the cameras while you guys get a little fresh air."

"Wait," Syd asked. "You're gonna let _Bridge_ watch the cameras?"

"Yeah, which is why I'm here. Fair warning."

"Right,'" the blond answered. "I'm setting the cameras to record everything."

Jack nodded. "Not a bad idea."

I raised an eyebrow. "Is the guy a space cadet or something?"

"Something like that." Z said. "He gets sidetracked pretty easily. At least this way, if Broodwing _does_ show up, at least we'll have proof of it happening."

We took a couple of minutes to clean up what was left of lunch. By cleaning up, I mean we finished what was left quickly before heading out. I thought it was kinda weird that Bridge hadn't popped up when we left, but the three officers assured me that he'd be by soon. It was stranger that the one officer with a serious attitude was waiting for us outside. Turned out that he wasn't too comfortable with someone who was apparently so eccentric on monitor duty and offered to stay with him.

Once the five of us were outside, we ended up splitting up into two groups. Z and Syd went off down the road together. Probably to talk about us behind our backs. Fine by me. Jack, Ibuki and I walked in the opposite direction. It was at that point that we got a conversation going that would be interesting to anyone who bothered to listen in.

"So, wait." I said, "You're telling me that creatures from outer space live here? On Earth?"

"Yep." Jack answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Aliens like to use Earth as a refuge. Whether they're political refugees or people that just want to get away, they see our planet as the best place to start a new life. A few years ago, they were still in our imagination. Today, though, they're everywhere."

Ibuki took a turn. "Okay, so...why us?"

"Well, ever since the end of the Cyber Elf Wars, reconstruction efforts around the world began bringing nature and humanity back to where we once were. People living on other worlds saw how nicely the world was coming together and decided that this would be the place to start new lives."

"And they're all around us?" I asked.

Jack nodded. "Probably. For a while, most aliens didn't want to move to areas away from Neo America. Earth's S.P.D. Headquarters is located there, so they felt safer living in a place they'd be protected. They've only just recently started branching out to other parts of the world. There may be some here, walking by us."

That's cool.

"So, since you're a Maverick Hunter, you track down the bad robots?"

"Reploids." I corrected him.

"Huh?"

"Reploids. Replicated Androids. They're people based off the designs of X, a legend. Most of the time, they're made to look human. Other times, they look..." An upright sheep-based Pseudoroid passed us by. "...just like him." I assumed.

"So that guy was a Reploid?" Jack asked.

"Well," Ibuki replied. "Technically speaking, he's a Pseudoroid."

This was where the expected confusion set in. "Pseudoroid?"

I nodded. "Yeah. At one point, 'Pseudoroid' referred to a couple groups of Reploids that didn't have their own power sources, but had to use an outside source. Today, it means Reploids that don't look like humans."

"So, how can you tell who's a Reploid, and who's not?

Ibuki shrugged. "You can't really. Reploid designs have come a long way since they were first done. Nowadays, an average person might not be able to tell the difference. It doesn't help that a lot of humans aren't fully human these days, and that Reploids created today aren't always created for a specific purpose. Actually, most of them are made just to be families."

Cure more confusion. "Wait, what? What's 'not fully human' mean?"

I took charge here. "Medical research in human tissue and organ replacement has been going on for years, mostly to see if there is a way that the average human could keep up with the average lifespans of Reploids. Today, thanks to how far they've come in that research, humans have the option to have certain parts of themselves replaced. They usually won't do it, though, unless there's some kind of medical reason."

Jack nodded. "Okay, I think I get it. So, did you guys have anything replaced?"

My walking pace stuttered for a split second. I guess I should've expected that question to come up. Didn't mean that I was ready for it, though. I had to come up with something. I didn't want to bring up something that had been bothering me for a while.

"Yeah," I said. "A little after I was born, I had some problems. One of my lungs ended up collapsing. I was able to recover, somehow, but doctors recommended that I get my lung replaced to avoid having any other problems. It was a pretty easy decision for my parents, but getting the lung was the hard part."

We circled a corner, making sure to keep the tower in sight. Not a hard thing to do considering it's a tower, but you never know.

"Couldn't afford it?" Jack asked.

I shook my head. "No way. My mom's an interior designer and my dad works with computers. Their incomes combined couldn't even come close. So, as a way of getting one, they agreed to enter me into Slither, Inc.'s Replacement Research Program. At least, until they went out of business. Then Berkana Industries took over."

"So, technically, part of you is actually theirs?" He thumbed toward the tower.

"Yeah. Don't mind it, though. I don't know about most people, but I like being able to breathe."

That got Jack to chuckle. Looked like he bought it. Good.

He turned over to Ibuki. "So, you got anything?"

Ibuki nodded. "Yep. My eye."

That was news to me. "Your eye?" He asked.

Another nod. "Early on in my training, I had a hard time with my throwing skills. I couldn't hit a building if I was right next to it." We both laughed a little at that. Ibuki smiled. "My master decided that it would be a good idea to have one of my eyes replaced to help with that. Now, thanks to this thing..." She pointed to her right eye. "...I can place my shots like they were going out of style."

Jack nodded. "That explains why you didn't hit us in the mall earlier."

"Yep. I could've nailed all of you if I wanted to. Those were more like warning throws, really."

"Did you have any trouble getting yours?"

This time, a shake. "Nope. Clan took care of that. Better aim at no cost to me. Can't exactly argue with that."

"Why didn't I know about that?" I asked. Legit question, that.

Ibuki smiled and shrugged. "Wouldn't be much of a ninja if I told you _everything_ about me."

Legit answer, that.

We talked a little while longer. Just about different things around the city, really. Nothing too personal once we moved away from the replacement thing. It wasn't too long before Jack's badge-box-thing (I really need to work on my vocab) started chirping.

He pulled it from underneath his jacket and flipped the front open. "What's up?"

Nice answer. I should totally use that.

"_Look up._" A voice from the other side, sounded like Sky, said. All three of us looked up at the tower. There were a few birds circling near the top, like you'd expect to see. One of them, though, was hovering in the same spot for a second.

"Got it." Jack said, flipping his badge closed.

I kept watching the "bird." It kept hovering there for a moment before I lost sight of it. It would've looked like it went around the building to anyone else, but I was willing to bet that it flew inside.

"Alright then," I said. "Let's go get him."

"Wait," Jack said, holding a hand up. "He's meeting someone. Let's get back to the room and hear what they have to say first."

Okay, wait. "Why?"

"The more we can get on them, the better the case for us. Let them nail themselves for us." He answered as we started back for the apartment.

Ibuki nodded. "Basic case building."

Oh shut up. Being a ninja makes you an expert police officer all of a sudden?

This time, she rolled her eyes. "No. It's common sense."

hate my mouth sometimes.

But, this did bring up a good question. "How do we plan on seeing or hearing anything that's going on up there?"

"We could probably gain access to a computer or a camera up there." Ibuki offered.

Jack nodded. "Good idea, but we'd need to get permission to do it, wouldn't we?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Apparently, as a Maverick Hunter, I can do whatever I need to finish my mission. Since assisting you is my mission..."

A smile graced his face. "Sounds good."

"If it sounds so good," Ibuki said, "Why are we just walking? Let's get moving before we miss anything."

And get moving we did. I was not going to miss a chance to get one over on the Pretty Pretty Princess. Assuming she was even involved, that is.


	28. Episode 7: Part 4

**This arc's almost over. It _was_ going to end here, but since it's an extended episode, why spoil the fun?**

* * *

Now, I understand that I may not have given a good idea about how crowded the area around the Berkana Industries corporate office really is. That was because, despite living in Giga City, I'd never really been in the area. Even when I needed to have my leg taken care of, I would be taken to a local hospital where my extreme dislike, but not hatred for, needles kicked in.

So, when I say that the two of us trying to get back to an apartment building against the flow of a massive crowd was similar to a fish trying to swim up a waterfall, I don't think I'd be exaggerating.

Potentially.

Possibly.

...maybe?

Jack and I had an interesting time trying to get through the mob of people who had nothing better to do on a weekend than walk around in circles and not really do anything.

And, for the record, that was totally _not_ what I was doing earlier. I was window-shopping. Get it right.

"Why is this city so crowded?" I asked out loud, getting a few looks from random passerby.

"Because it's a popular hangout spot?" Jack answered.

The reason only two of us were fighting our way through the population was because neither of us were a ninja. Seriously. Not too long after we started making our way back to the apartment, Ibuki hopped onto a few things before she found the rooftops.

Stupid shortcuts.

It took us a few minutes, but we were able to make our way back to the building, where Ibuki was waiting for us with a massive grin.

"What took you two so long?" She asked as she leaned against the doorframe.

"Shut up," I said. "Not all of us can go roof-hopping any time we want."

"Uh, guys?" Jack said. "As much as I'd like to hear you two go at it, I think we've got more important things to worry about right now."

He was right. We started back for the apartment again, but not before I gave into the quick temptation to flick Ibuki's nose, smiling to myself as I left her behind. I didn't bother to check to see if she was bothered by it or not.

I didn't need to.

Just as we got back to room 115, the door flew open. Sky, looking as enthusiastic as I'd ever seen him, met us in the doorway.

"It's him." He said as we made our way over to the monitors.

"You sure?" Jack asked. We all huddled around, trying to get the best look at a computer monitor that we could.

Syd rolled her eyes. "How many huge bats do you see flying around?"

"If you live in Neo Arcadia, plenty." Ibuki answered.

"Or if you've stepped outside at all today." Bridge added. Syd rolled 'em again.

"Thanks, _partner_." She said with a bit of a sarcastic tone.

"Anyway," Sky interrupted before things got any further. "We're pretty sure he flew into one of the offices near the top of the tower."

Z nodded. "We lost sight of him on the ground."

"So did we." I said.

"And he slipped out of our camera ranges." Sky added. Great. So we had no idea where exactly he went. Well, I had an idea, but I didn't want to push it. Fishing for reasons to bust somebody isn't a good idea when you're in any sort of law enforcement, my Internet research had taught me.

After all, look at Colonel Baryl.

Then again, when it's the only lead you've got...

"I might know." I said. Six heads turned to look at me. Pressure... "A couple of days ago, I managed to stall a Maverick attack."

"Stall?" Z asked.

"I didn't exactly stop them. Tango did that." Like I could take credit for something someone else did. "Anyway, one of the Maverick's groupies that Tango took out had something on him that had this company's logo on it. I confronted the only person I knew in our school tied to Berkana Industries about it. She acted like she didn't know anything about it, but I could tell something was up. I already mentioned that, though."

Sky nodded. "I remember that. You thought he might be coming here to meet with them about something."

I nodded back at him. "Yeah. He might've flown into her office. Her window was open when I had my chat with her."

"Do you remember which room it was?" Jack asked. I shook my head.

"No. Tango helped me get up there, but I couldn't tell how far up we were."

"Speaking of whom," Ibuki said. "Where is the little guy?"

As if that were some kind of cue, some metallic scratching sounds came from the door. Since it wasn't a knock, none of us felt the need to raise our guards. I walked over to the door and opened it up. Tango, who I hadn't seen since we first got here didn't bother to wait for me to at least say 'Hi'. He just waltzed into the room like he owned the place.

If a Mechaniloid Ocelot can waltz, anyway.

"Where have you been?" I asked, for some reason expecting an answer. As a result, I found myself surprised when he seemed to ignore me and jump up onto the table.

"Polite little guy, isn't he?" Ibuki asked, half a smirk on her face. Tango looked at her and meowed.

"Traitor."

A few quiet laughs went around the room. Tango looked at the monitor in the room for a second before snapping straight. His ears turned toward it, the very tips beginning to pulse a faint red light. Our guests didn't look too surprised about what he was doing, but this kinda caught me off guard.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. It looked like he'd suddenly spaced out or something. I circled around him so that I could see his face. Thin lines of something, I assumed electricity, raced along his eyes as he seemed to tune everything out. I raised an eyebrow. Maybe he'd frozen up or something? I made a mental note to ask the twins to take a look at him.

"Hey, check that out." Ibuki said, pointing to the monitor. We all turned to look at it. The view had changed from the cameras around the building to a set inside an office. The screen itself had split into four smaller shots, each with a different angle of the room. Inside, the alien bat-thing the officers were chasing wandered around. I guess he was admiring the sights or something. Either that, or he was impatient.

It took me a second to figure out what was going on. Threat _Assessment_. Duh.

"I think that's Berkana's office."

A hand met the back of my head rather rudely.

"No kidding, genius." Ibuki said. She rolled her eyes as while I glared at her and rubbed at the now sore spot on my head.

"Well, that answers the question about how we were going to listen in." Jack quipped, a small smile on his face."

The bat, Broodwing, turned into his bat form and hung out in a corner. It was then that the richling (seriously need to work on my vocab) in question walked into the room. I curled my toes in my shoes the second I saw her. A good thing, too, because I could let something tense up at the sight of that little princess while nobody could see it, and it let me make sure that my leg was working. She walked in wearing her training uniform, another towel around her shoulders, and a pretty tall guy in a business suit behind her. If I had to guess, that was probably the guy who she was talking to about finding more info on me.

"Works for me." I said, a little anxious at catching her before anything could happen. Just as I turned for the door, though, a hand and a voice stopped me cold.

"Wait," Sky said. "Let's make sure things are the way we think they are."

"He's right." Z agreed. "For all we know, she might not be involved."

I quietly growled, but she did have a point. After all, he could've just picked her office as a hiding spot until the pressure lifted. That was when Berkana's partner spoke for the cameras.

"_...your father will be pleased to see you training properly after your incident at the school." The guy with her, her bodyguard I assumed, said to her. Neither noticed the intruder in the corner._

_Cecelia huffed. "Oh please. You know very well that my workout today was only_ because_ my father saw it as the best disciplinary method he could think of. In fact, I could have skipped it if I wanted and moved on with my day. He isn't here to make sure that his word is adhered to, after all."_

_The man chuckled. "And yet you went through it anyway."_

"_Of course I did." She wiped her forehead with the towel. "I may have the ability to ignore my father, but I am not irresponsible."_

"_Oh, that's good to know." The bat said. Both people jumped slightly and snapped their heads around. Neither saw the bat drop from the ceiling and shift into his alien form. "Then you won't have a problem with keeping with your end of our agreement."_

That was enough for me. As quietly as I possibly could, I slipped away from the group and made my way toward the door. I hoped they wouldn't notice the sound of the door opening and closing behind them. As it slid open, I turned to check. Not a single person looked behind them. Good. I quickly stepped out into the hallway and let the door close.

Ha! Too slick for Ibuki!

I raced as quickly as I could out of the building and around to the alley in the back. Because, you know, every set of buildings has an alley in the middle. Once I was sure I was out of sight, I brought up the wrist with my watch, fully intending on calling my armor.

A hand on my shoulder, though, made me jump about two feet into the air and spin around into a defensive stance. Ibuki stood right behind me wearing the biggest grin I'd ever seen. Tango stood next to her, scratching away at the back of his neck.

Why he was scratching, though, was beyond me.

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are." She said, still smiling. I rolled my eyes. This is what I get for a having a ninja for a best friend.

"Oh shut up. Where are the others?"

"They're still in the room. They want to make sure that we're not getting in over our heads. Jack said they'd meet us once everything's good."

That made me look at her odd. "'We'? Who said you were going to do anything?"

Ibuki rolled her eyes. "We already had this discussion, Eye. I'm your best friend, which means that I'm going to stand behind you no matter what you do. Even if it's something as stupidly questionable as this."

I smiled a little. "Thanks."

Her smile soured into a frown. "And don't think that this means you're off the hook. We still need to talk about this whole thing later on."

"Fine." I nodded. It really was fine. I turned to Tango. "You think you can get me up there as quietly as possible?"

Tango stopped scratching and meowed. Hoping he didn't have fleas or anything (can Mechaniloids even _get_ fleas?), I called for my armor, thankful that the only person around to hear the stupid password was the one person who'd never let me live it down.

Sure enough, once I was armored up, she started giggling. "Who's bright idea was that?"

I rolled my eyes. "The twins."

"Makes sense."

Tango jumped off the ground, shifted into his jetpack form in midair and fixed himself into place.

"You might want to stand back." I told Ibuki. "I have no idea what's gonna happen." Silently nodding, she took a couple of steps back. Good thing, too, because I could feel the jets on my back building up energy, but not letting it go.

What did I get myself into?

Before I knew it, Tango let all the power that he'd stored go at once, resulting in both a nice little boom that nearly destroyed my eardrums and probably attracted a lot of attention, and sending me toward the office like a rocket. I'd have been impressed with how much he'd fired me with if it weren't for the fact that I was flying so fast I could swear I left my brain on the spot we took off from. The jets died out a second later, but I continued to fly toward the tower.

Once I was high enough, a small blue box appeared in my sight. I wiped at my eye to try and clear it, only to find a clear visor covering them. Explains why I wasn't getting any bugs in my eyes.

"Is that where the office is?" I shout-asked. It's kinda hard to talk properly when you're flying through the air at, like, 100 miles an hour.

Instead of an answer, I got a burst from the jet that forced me to angle off. This made me turn around the building until I was on the same side as the office. I kept gliding toward the window, but I noticed that I started to slow down. It didn't help that, once we were at a certain point, Tango decided to detach, leaving me to keep going on my own momentum. Once I was close enough, all I could do was reach out for the ledge and hope to grab it. I did, but I had enough momentum built up so that the rest of me kept going and smacked into the wall head-first.

"What was that?" I heard from above. Sounded like Broodwing if I remembered right.

"Probably nothing." Berkana answered. "Most likely a bird hitting the building. It seems to happen more often than people realize."

A bird? Really? Well, maybe if the bird was a Mechaniloid...

"In any event, shall we return to the discussion at hand?" She continued. Nobody responded. "I was under the impression that your weapons would serve me some kind of purpose."

"Oh, but they can." Broodwing said, sound like some kind of cheesy salesman. I started to pull myself up slowly, hoping none of them would see me. Thankfully, they were all facing the other wall, unable to tell that I was even there. Berkana sat in her chair, leaning on one arm while the other two stood on either side."You see, my Krybots have the capability to take on anyone who might stand in your way and bring them down."

"Yes, I see that. Except that the quality of your machines is far too low. It would take a great deal of my resources in order to maintain even a minimal personal security, let alone work in the scale that I require."

The man standing next to her, Gareth, turned his head slightly. I could see that he was wearing a pair of sunglasses. Berkana's chair turned a little.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Gareth. I'm not planning on replacing you with this...thing's...trash."

Gareth didn't respond. He just stared at her for another second. If Broodwing was insulted, he sure didn't show it.

"It may seem like a bad investment now," He said, still trying to make the sale. "But you can't deny that sheer numbers can make my Krybots virtually unstoppable."

Berkana's hand came from behind the chair and pressed a button on the desk. A hidden screen on the other side of the room turned on. It started playing what looked like security camera footage from the battle in the mall.

"Unstoppable?" She repeated, heavy on the sarcasm. "Hardly. Even greatly outnumbering this clumsy fool who fancies herself a Maverick Hunter, all I can see out of this is a rather pathetic performance."

I smirked under my mask. Now was as good a time as any.

"Oh, I don't know." I said, causing two of the three to spin around in surprise. Gareth turned slowly. I guess he had seen me already. "I thought it was some of my best work."

"You!" Berkana shouted, clearly not happy about seeing me again.

"Me." I cleverly retorted. "Like I said; you'll want to keep your windows closed. You just never know what kind of trash will float in here."

"Clearly." She growled. She turned to the man that walked in with her. "Gareth, see to it that both of these piles of _refuse_," she stressed the word. I guess that was supposed to be an insult. "...are discarded."

"No need." Broodwing said. "I'll just see my self out."

With that, he shifted into his bat form and zoomed by me and away.

Or so I wanted him to think.

"Oh no you don't!" Ever forward-thinking, I lunged out after him. The good news was that I was able to get a hand on him and start dragging him back down to Earth.

The bad news? We were coming back down to Earth.

Yep. Forward-thinking.

* * *

**Hopefully, the next part will be the last for this arc. Afterward, we should be getting back to our regular programming.**


	29. Episode 7: Final

Berkana and Gareth peered over the edge of the window, watching the two intruders plummet toward their doom.

"Should I look into another security staff?" Gareth asked, his expression still unchanged.

"No." Berkana said, sitting back down in her chair. "With any luck, those two will now be out of our lives. We can move on in peace."

* * *

Alright, so what have we established so far? I'm impulsive. Taking a suit of armor hidden in a secret room proved that. I'm rash. Getting into a fight at school, then trying to one-up the person I fought later on proved _that._ I also have a hard time thinking ahead. Trying to catch a flying alien bat from fifty stories in the air is probably that statement's newest piece of evidence.

It didn't hit me that trying to grab Broodwing from so high up was not a good idea. At least, not until I got a hand on him and the two of us began our plunge back toward solid, unforgiving ground.

"Not this again!" I shouted. I was right; this was the second time that I'd gone over the edge of a building from high up. The last time, though, I only landed painfully hard. Nearly five hundred feet up? I wondered if I'd even _feel_ the landing.

"Let go of me, you idiot!" The bat shouted, both surprising me that he could still talk and scrambling furiously to try and make me let go.

"No way, bat-boy!" My wit didn't seem fazed by our fall, though. "I'm not going down alone!"

A loud hiss from out of nowhere reminded me that our tumble down wasn't a big deal. Tango, who I'd forgotten about, reattached himself to my armor, kicked his jets in and pushed the two of us forward.

"Pull up!" I screamed as the ground moved faster. "Pull up!"

Another meow, and we were suddenly angling up. As glad I was that Tango was there, his jets weren't enough to keep us in the air. I had no choice but to let the bat go and brace myself. Tango disconnected from my armor and jumped away, leaving me to skid at a high speed along the ground. The good part was that the armor took the most of the landing and scraping. The bad part was that I still landed hard enough to hurt.

Once I came to a stop, I slowly rolled over and groaned. "That...was not fun."

"Iris!"

Since someone shouted my name, something that I didn't need by the way, I looked around to find the source of the voice. It didn't take me long to find the six people I'd left behind. I guess they had everything they needed.

"You okay?" Ibuki asked, already in her ninja suit with her face covered. The S.P.D. officers stood between us and the alien, forming a sort-of barrier.

"Yeah," I said. Ibuki helped me get to my feet. Everything felt really wobbly. "Just fine."

"That's good." Broodwing said, changing out of his bat form. "That just means you'll make for a better second test." Before I had the chance to come up with a snappy comeback, he hefted and launched a pair of small balls. I recognized them as the same ones that the Krybots from the mall came out of. So that was the way he wanted to do things?

Fine by me.

The eight of us, counting Tango, watched as the machines from earlier were summoned in front of us.

"Those things again?" I asked. "Don't you have something else we can beat the egg out of?"

If he could smile, he probably would've been at that point. "Why, I'm glad you asked. I just so happen have the latest models on hand for display. Hope you enjoy them!" With that, he produced two more balls, these with what looked like a pair of blue rings circling them. He threw those into the air and, just like the first set, they released his machines. It was only two of them this time, but they looked different from the regular ones. Their basic appearance was the same, but their heads had the same two circles going around their heads. Unlike the Krybots, who were moving their arms up and down, these two held still.

"Blueheads." Jack said without hesitation. "Watch out for those. They can be pretty nasty."

"How nasty?" I asked.

Before I got an answer, one of them charged forward and leaped over the crowd of Krybots. It came in with a flying kick, forcing everyone to roll away. The Krybots then charged in themselves, forcing each of us to try and fight off a small pack on our own.

So, in essence, that basically answered my question without anyone needing to say anything.

Several Krybots surrounded me, basically cutting me off from everyone else. In the back of my mind, I knew that I couldn't treat this fight like I did just the others. I had to make sure that I kept my head on a swivel and knew where everyone not me was at all times. I couldn't afford to-

"Oof!"

A hard kick right into my back cut off my thoughts. What was that I was saying about always being aware?

The hit sent me stumbling forward into another Bot. Whether it was quick thinking on my part or the suit taking over for a second, I used the momentum to roll right past it and underneath the punch it threw. Once I was behind it, I gave it a good hard crouching kick to send _it_ stumbling forward. Another one came up and tried to kick me (what's with all the kicks?). I blocked the attack and, again I wasn't sure if it was me or the armor, drew one of my Z-Blades and sliced the Krybot in half with one smooth motion.

I'm willing to bet it was me. I'm getting good.

A couple of the Mechaniloid wannabes charged, both winding up for what could've been heavy punches. This time, knowing full well it was me, I decided to take a risk and do something for the first time. I sprang up onto my feet and launched myself backwards onto my hands. Another quick spring, and I was back on my feet a couple of...feet...away from where I started and out of their range.

"Cool." I said to myself. It was the first time I'd ever done a successful backflip without landing painfully onto something. At least now I knew I could do it. After I'd finished admiring my hidden natural talent that had absolutely nothing to do with the power armor I'd been given by my parents, I quickly dashed forward and slashed both Krybots across their chests. Three down, looked like three more to go. Two of them raised their arms, showing that they'd switched to their electric arms.

"Like I need to see those things." I said, again to myself. I could feel my arms start to tingle just remembering the last time those things shot at me. Acting on armor influence, because I probably never would've guessed to do so on my own, I could feel myself cartwheeling to the side. Good thing, too, because the armed Krybots fired electric sparks where I stood before, creating a small explosion of sparks.

Once I'd finished my move, I charged in with my swords ready. They fired again, this time their shots connected with me, sparking off of and heating up my armor. I winced underneath my mask, but the suit kept pushing me forward and ignoring my pain. Can't say I blame it, considering that it doesn't know that my side and one of my arms, where the electric attacks landed, were starting to sting against the heat. The 'bots apparently didn't know not to stand still when someone's barreling in on you, because they just kept firing while I kept running. Once I was close enough, it was just a matter of a simple swipe of a sword to each to put them down for good.

I groaned loudly. I'd gotten my last burns taken care of not too long ago, and now I had new ones in new places. Sort of. Before I had a chance to tell myself that now wasn't the time to let the pain get to me, a hard punch right to the stomach did it for me. All the air leaving my lungs forced me to gag and hunch forward, making eating a knee from my attacker pretty easy to do. The hit knocked me back onto my rear.

One of these days, I'm going to get the hang of fighting in these large battles.

My vision was a bit blurry from eating a gut-witch with a side of knee, but I was able to see that the Krybot that attacked me wasn't an ordinary Krybot. It was one of the Blueheads Broodwing sent after us. I didn't have a chance to recover from the hits before it charged me again. This time, though, instead of another hit to the stomach, it decided to go for my head. My armor kicked in and forced me to bring my arms up to block his attacks. It was all I could do, though, because the stupid thing kept throwing punches and kicks at me and not giving me any time to try and fight back. Before I knew it, though, a light pressure hit my shoulder and a rain of knives came down on it from behind me. Most of the knives missed, but the few that connected only bounced off of it. They came down hard enough, though, to force it to back off and try to defend itself. I looked back to see where my help came from, but I had a pretty good idea.

Ibuki was crouched down on the ground, looking at the two of us. Guess that means I owed her for saving me.

"Thanks." I said. Ibuki, on the other hand, wasn't in a gracious mood.

"Don't look away!" She shouted, springing to her feet. I turned back around, only to see the Bluehead come at me with a flying kick. I didn't have time to react, so the hit ended up knocking me backwards into the ninja behind me. The two of us rolled a bit, finally stopping in a tangled mess of limbs.

"Nice job." Ibuki groaned underneath me.

"Sorry." I said, equally strained.

"Just get off. You're heavy."

I felt offended. "Are you suggesting that...?"

"Your armor makes you heavier?" Ibuki cut me off. "Yes, now off!" With that, she was able to slip a leg underneath me and push me off. I shook my head once she was free. At least she wasn't saying that I was getting fat.

Before either of us had a chance to start a round of banter, the Bluehead came after us again. This time, with a little help with me, the two of us were able to surround it and fend it off a little better and even get in some attacks of our own. Problem, though, was that for every kick or punch we threw, and we managed to throw a lot, the Bluehead seemed to be able to figure us out and block all of our attacks. It was getting to be a chore just trying to hit the stupid thing.

Eventually, our attacks circled us both in front of it. It must've recognized that, because the next thing we knew, it jumped up and kicked us both at once. The two of us fell backward, though I was a little more embarrassed than hurt. Ibuki rubbed at her sore spot.

"What now?" I asked. "We can't get in a good hit."

Ibuki drew one of her throwing knives before answering. "Buy me some time. Gotta get ready."

I nodded. With my blades in hand, I charged the Bluehead, swinging away. It read every swipe I tried and dodged them. It ducked under a slash at its head and connected with quick hits to my stomach and, once I doubled over, jaw. The hits didn't hurt too much, but they were enough to send me sprawling back. I had no idea how I was supposed to buy any time when nothing I did seemed to work.

Which was a good thing, because it turned out that Ibuki didn't really need that much, anyway. Before I knew it, she'd jumped up onto my shoulder, using me to get more height on another jump. In a move that always made me wonder if physics applied to her, she spun in the air a couple of times.

"Present for ya!" She shouted before her last spin. She flung her arms out to the sides, revealing so many knives I couldn't help but wonder where the heck she hid them all.

Then again, maybe I didn't want to know.

The knives came down on the bot like some kind of homing rain, if that makes any sense. It tried to dodge them, but there were too many for _anyone_ to avoid and they ended up slashing the bot to small, sparking pieces.

"That was cool." I said just as she landed. "How'd you do that?"

I couldn't see it too well under her facemask, but I could see that she had a smile on her. "Can't tell ya."

I rolled my eyes. "Right. Ninja stuff."

"Nope. Just don't want you figuring out how to beat it."

Another roll. "I think moving would work just fine."

"Yeah." Ibuki thumbed toward the mechanical heap. "That guy can vouch for that."

Okay, so she had me there. Before I had a chance to respond, though, an interesting set of words were shouted from people other than us.

"SPD! Emergency!"

The two of us looked toward the group of visitors just in time to watch as they transformed into their own special suits. It only took a split second, which was just enough time for me to ask another question.

"Why can't I say something that cool?"

"Look out!" Ibuki shouted, then tackled me. Electric arcs landed in the spot we used to be. Our landing was pretty rough, considering I wasn't ready to get thrown to the ground. It didn't help that Ibuki screamed in pain right when we hit the ground.

"You okay?" I asked. Her eyes were shut tight, meaning that she wasn't too comfortable.

"My arm..." She groaned. I looked down. Turned out that when she tackled me, I ended up landing on her arm. That was just great. Now not only did I manage to somehow get myself hurt every time I was in these situations, now I managed to injure my best friend in the process.

To make matters worse, the Krybots that shot at us, I assumed, closed in on us with their needle arms aimed. And, to make things much better, there were apparently enough Krybots left over to push out guests from another country back toward us.

Shots from a few of the Krybots landed all around us, throwing everyone back in a fit screams near where Ibuki was laying.

Groaning all around, everyone but she struggled to get up. She stayed down, clutching at her arm and cringing in major pain.

"You guys okay?" Jack asked. Part of me had to resist smacking him for asking such a stupid question. Thankfully, I guess you could say, I didn't really get the chance. Before anyone could say anything, more bolts flew our way. The others moved out of the way, but I had to stay in place to make sure Ibuki didn't get hit.

Which meant, of course, that I did. The bolts that landed on my heated my armor again, and I could feel my skin underneath it.

Between Ibuki's groans of pain, people in brightly colored suits, the burning sensation, and the sight of sparks flying everywhere from missed shots I could only hope that something good would happen and we could get the upper hand.

A loud hiss chose that particular moment to remind me that a friend of mine was still there.

Tango jumped out from behind the mass of machines, turned to face them and started shooting his ear-beams at them.

"Yes!" I cried, then cringed. Reacting like that aggravated my burns. Tango kept at it, reducing one Krybot after another to scrap. The others, though, ended up getting pushed back toward us.

"Okay," Z said. "So rushing in isn't going to work. Any ideas?"

Heads snapped around, everyone trying to get ideas under the constant fire. Tango kept returning the favor, proving himself to be a better shooter than the Krybots. Everyone else had drawn out small Buster Guns and were firing as well. I moved back so I could act like a shield for my injured friend. Speaking of, I hadn't heard anything from her for a minute or so. Looking back at her, I could see that she wasn't moving or anything. She'd probably passed out from the pain. Not good. I had to think fast.

That was when it hit me. Why not try

"Can you guys buy me some time?" I asked. Everyone nodded.

"Can do." Jack said. "Let's move!" With that, everyone took off to buy me said time. I stayed in place so I could keep acting like her shield. The last thing she needed was to get hurt even after I'd already done so.

"Z-Blades, combine!"

Just like the last time I'd done this, I slammed the hilts of my Blades together and heard them lock together. Again, the blade doubled in length and energy coursed through me and into it. As it was charging, a thought came to me.

I don't know where I came up with the name I used for the move I beat Archon with, but it sounded pretty lame in my head. Maybe something better sounding?

Before I knew it, the Z-Saber's blade glowed brightly. A cue that it was ready. Good thing, too, because looking at the battle in front of me showed that the S.P.D. Officers were fighting a losing battle.

"Move!" I shouted. They each took one look at either me or my sword, I couldn't tell with their visors covering their eyes, and got away as fast as they could, running behind me for safety. After they got clear, I reared my sword back and prepared to attack. That was when, for some reason but not entirely unusual, the name of the attack skipped my brain and went straight to my vocal chords.

"Final strike! ZERO DIVIDER!"

Completely original. So was the attack. Instead of dual massive energy waves being fired at the Krybots when I swung, the sword unleashed the energy in the form of momentum. The hilt slipped from my hand, and the Z-Saber flew toward the mass of mechanics, spinning so fast it almost looked like some kind of disc.

Krybots, at this point, were pretty clearly not intelligent. At least, not intelligent enough to move away from a sword flying directly at them. The Z-Saber sliced its way through the crowd, cutting down any Krybot unfortunate enough to get in its way.

"Okay," Z said from behind. "That is cool."

Once it finished clearing a path, which included forcing Broodwing behind the 'bots to duck down or get sliced, it circled back around, going through even more of the alien Mechaniloids.

I couldn't help but watch in awe. After all, that was probably the last thing that I wanted to do. As I watched, though, something hit me like a slap on the back of the head.

It was coming _back_.

Crud. I started panicking. How the heck was I supposed to stop a sword that's about two-thirds my size and coming at my like a Frisbee on a mission? I held my hand out, hoping things would work out like they do on TV. For once, my hopes paid off as the hilt of the blade found my hand once again.

I grinned like a madwoman. "Freakin' sweet!"

Looking up, I could see that a huge chunk of the Krybot army that Broodwing threw at us was a nice pile of scrap. The rest stood frozen. If they had any sort of AI in them, they were probably terrified. I would've.

With a smirk under my mask, I asked the first question that came to mind.

"So, who else wants a piece?"

"Don't get cocky, Iris." I could almost hear Sky's eyes rolling. "We've still got a job to finish."

"Doesn't mean we can't have a little fun." My smile widened. This really was fun when I wasn't getting thrown around like a doll in a daycare.

"Let's finish this up." Jack said. "We've gotta get your friend out of here."

Well, there went my buzz. I looked behind me. For that split second, I'd forgotten that Ibuki was behind me, still not doing much moving.

In _that_ split second, a loud bang went off in my ear, followed by a shower of sparks that would've burned me if I were staring right into them. Instead, they bounced harmlessly off my armor. Turning around, I could see a Krybot falling limply to the ground in front of me. Apparently that one wanted a piece.

"Keep your head up!" Jack shouted, firing his Buster into whatever 'bots remained. The rest of his team charged in, Pistols blazing and steel dropping to the ground. If I could've, I would've gone in and helped out myself, but someone needed to stay by Ibuki and make sure she didn't get hurt any worse than she was. Staying there let me see something I wouldn't have if I were in the middle of the battle.

Namely, a bat-like figure flying away from the scene and away from the tower. Clearly, he didn't have any interest in sticking around to find out if he had a deal with Berkana or not. It was a good thing, though, because not too long afterward, the S.P.D. officers had cleared out whatever Krybots were left over. Once they were done, they regrouped around us.

"Well, that went easier than expected." Z said.

"Yeah," Bridge agreed. "That wasn't nearly as tough as it usually is."

I raised an eyebrow to those. "That's easy?"

"Pretty much," Jack answered. "Normally we'd have an ugly monster or robot to fight too."

Ho-boy. I could only hope things didn't escalate for me like that. Otherwise, Middy and Techno would have a _ton_ of work cut out for us.

"Guys," Now Sky chimed in, not very amused. "Didn't anyone notice anything wrong with this situation?" Everyone looked around, but I was the only one who knew what he was talking about.

"Broodwing took off. He flew off that way." I said, pointing to where he went.

"Alright," Jack started. "You stay here with her and mak sure she's okay. We'll go after Broodwing."

"If we need help, we'll know where to call you." Sky added. With that, the officers took off running. It didn't take long for me to lose sight of the group, even when I took my eyes off of them to look at Ibuki. She shifted a bit on the ground and groaned, meaning that she was probably conscious and in a lot of pain.

I knew that I needed to get her some help, even if she wasn't going to like it, or me, later on. Whatever her injury was, it wasn't something that I could just take her home for and let Mom and Dad handle. As carefully as possible, I lifted her over my shoulder and began making my way back to the spot where I'd been Trans-Servered into.

I think I just created a new word.

The one thing that I was hoping for while I was moving Ibuki was that I wouldn't get attacked, or even noticed, while trying to get her to safety. Half of my hopes were dashed, though, because the second I stepped off the property, I got all kinds of stares from the people who'd frozen in place due to the battle. They weren't a huge problem, though. Like the first night I wore my armor, I hopped on a car and then a rooftop, using the springing motion from the car to give me more momentum. A little roof-hopping later, which ended up being longer than it need to be thanks to my inability to find _where_ I landed, and we were there. As I stepped onto the glowing square, I had to hope that more than one person traveling at a time was safe.

After all, I'd rather not have a leg where an arm's supposed to be.

Mom and Dad were waiting for me at home. They rushed over to us the second I returned. I laid Ibukin on the ground, silently thankful that we made it in our respective pieces. It was at that point that the adrenaline from the battle faded and panic started to set it. "We need to get her to a doctor!" I nearly cried. What if I hurt her worse than I thought?

Mom shook her head. "No. We can take care of her." Dad knelt down and gently ran his hands over her, which would've deserved a comment in other situations. Instead, I knelt too and kept silent. He had to know what he was doing.

A second later, he smiled slightly. "Not too bad, " he said. "Her arm's broken, but not much else to be concerned about.

"That's great and all," I said, still panicking considering the situation,"but we need to get her some professional help!"

"Do you see the way she's dressed?" Mom asked. I could tell she was starting to get upset with me. I didn't blame her. She'd been though a war and probably saw a lot worse than that. I just wasn't used to the people close to me getting hurt. "Don't you think we should worry about helping her as well as respecting her need to keep her secret?"

"I don't care about that right now, Mom! She's hurt because of me, and I want to make sure she gets the kind of help she needs!"

A moment of silence and some head rubbing later, Mom let out an exhausted-sounding sigh.

"Fine. We'll take her to a hospital."

I smiled a little and took a deep breath. At least I knew she was going to be safe and, hopefully, just fine.


	30. Episode 8: Story Time

**I'll be perfectly honest. It took far less time to produce this chapter than it did the previous. I am _so_ sorry about that.  
**

* * *

It took a couple of hours for us to get her to a hospital, but we eventually made it. As quickly as society advanced since the Cyber Elf Wars, getting someone into a hospital under an emergency circumstance is still something of a headache, which is where most of that time was spent. I had already removed my armor, so the only reason the four of us got any looks was because of the person we were here for to begin with. Once a doctor was ready to see us, Mom seemed to take control of things.

"What happened?" He'd asked urgently. I guess the tone came with working in the Emergency Room.

"Car accident on the way home from a costume party." Mom said simply. The tone _she'd_ used had that distinct 'don't ask' feel to it.

It was too bad that the doctor didn't pick up on it.

"We didn't get any calls about an accident tonight." He said, clearly confused.

This time, Mom's response came with a glare I'd been on the receiving end of before. "Hit and run. Haven't found the driver."

The doctor looked like he wanted to press further, but she looked like she was trying to burn a hole into him. He opted to keep quiet while they took her into an examination room. I shuddered a bit when the doors closed. I've never been fond of those rooms, and my leg tingled like it knew how I was feeling.

A couple of hours after that, the doctor came out of the room. He explained the same thing that Dad already figured out; Ibuki's arm was broken in a couple of places and figured her loss of consciousness came from the pain. He said they'd done what they needed to and that it was going to be a few weeks before it healed. Being her best friend and all, I immediately asked if it was okay to go in and see her. He said yes, but warned me to try and not disturb her too much.

Poor guy didn't know me very well. Disturbing her was pretty much guaranteed. I went in and found Ibuki wide awake, sitting on the bed with her arm in a cast and sling.

"You okay?" I asked as the door to the room closed behind me and went to mentally slapping myself. The first thing I had to say to her was an absolutely stupid question.

Ibuki, not missing a beat as usual, lifted her covered arm and looked at it. "Yep. Totally fine. Nothing wrong here."

I hung my head. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Eye."

The heck I didn't. "But it's my fault that you got hurt like this. If I'd kept my eyes on what was going on instead of

"Maybe, but if I remembered that you were wearing a set of armor that would've protected you, I wouldn't have tried tackle you and wouldn't have gotten hurt."

She had a point, but it didn't make me feel much better about it. My best friend was badly injured thanks to the battle she'd gotten involved in.

I took a breath. "So then, this makes things a bit easier to say."

Ibuki raised an eyebrow. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was thinking.

"From now on, I'd prefer if you not try and get involved with these fights anymore."

"Oh, heck no." Was her immediate response. "You don't get to sit there and tell me not to get involved with your work when I saved your hide to begin with.'

My hand came up to meet with my face. She just wasn't going to make this talk easy.

"But you just said-"

"I don't care what I just said," Ibuki snapped. It was pretty clear that she was getting mad, but I wasn't sure why. "I'm not going to sit back and watch as my best friend puts her neck on the line fighting monsters and other stuff."

"I can handle myself, Ibuki." I said.

"Yeah, just like you did today." She took a breath to calm down. "Look, I'll be honest. I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into."

For some reason, her statement didn't sit too well with me. "And you do?"

"No, and that's the problem." Some of the anger faded, but that didn't make her expression any less serious. "When did you start this whole superhero thing?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. A few days ago?"

"And who convinced you that being a superhero was a good idea for someone your age?"

Convinced? "Nobody convinced me of anything. My mom and dad asked-"

"And knowing you," she cut me off again, "you probably agreed without giving it much thought." Ibuki shook her head. "What did they tell you?"

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you."

"Probably not, considering you did." I flashed an angry look at her. "I'm not trying to say you're stupid or anything like that, but you've never put much thought into your decisions and look where that's gotten you."

I balled up my fists at that. So she's going to blame me for what happened? "That wasn't my fault."

Ibuki took a deep breath. "So, what did your parents say?"

I didn't want to tell her. Heck, part of me wanted to get up, tell her to leave me alone and walk out of the room.

"They told me who they are."

"And who are they?"

"My dad is Zero."

Her expression shifted from serious to surprised. "Zero? As in the 'Crimson Knight'? The Reploid that ended the Cyber Elf Wars?"

I nodded. "And my mom is Ciel. The scientist that basically made today's society possible."

I half-expected her next question, but that didn't stop it from throwing me for a loop. "And you believe that?"

"Why shouldn't I? They're my parents, after all."

"And on that alone, you decided that they were telling the truth and that it was okay for their sixteen year old daughter to become a superhero and risk everything fighting monsters."

"I'm a Maverick Hunter," I said. "And I fight Mavericks."

"Because there's a world of difference between the two." She shook her head. I guess she thought she wasn't getting something through to me. "What I'm about to tell you is something you need to think about, Iris."

I rolled my eyes. "What, is it some kind of ancient ninja knowledge you learned back in your village?"

"No. It's ancient knowledge everybody learns as they grow up. It's something that I shouldn't have to tell you, but I'm going to anyway because it seems like you've forgotten it."

"What?"

"Everybody lies."

Anger built up inside me once again. I was fast becoming less of a fan of her calling my parents liars.

"Well, tough. I'm not calling them liars, but they're not the issue here. The issue is you and your need to just jump onto anything you think might be exciting. I mean, think about it. Do you have any idea how lucky you are that you're getting to live an entirely normal life? I'm only getting a taste because I still have obligations to my village and my masters, whether I like it or not."

We sat there in silence for a couple of minutes while the thought rolled around in my head. My mom and dad couldn't have lied to me about who they were, right? After all, they _do_ have Zero's armor locked away in our basement. Then again, if they really were Zero and Ciel, why wouldn't they tell me from the start? Why would they keep that a secret from me? Or from...?

"Look, I'm not going to tell you to quit. That's a decision you need to make on your own and besides, we both know you're not someone to quit something cold. What you need to do is start asking questions. Questions that need to be asked and should've been asked before you said 'yes'. Once you have the answer to those questions, you need to think about things. Figure out if you want to keep doing the superhero or 'Maverick Hunter' thing or if you want to live a normal life."

I couldn't help but let what she was saying bother me some more. Maybe she was right. Maybe Middy was right when he mentioned it too. But is it really that much of a stretch to think that I could trust the people that were raising me as their daughter.

I buried my hands in my face, trying to hide the fact that I was thinking about it all. "I can't believe I'm taking life advice from someone who doesn't even want to live her own."

"I'm living my life, Iris. I'm just not going to let my ninja training take control of it like most of the people in my village do. I don't mind being a ninja. Heck, I'll take some jobs if they need me to. But, it's not going to be a major aspect of my life. Like I said, I'm a normal girl first, ninja second."

I felt like I'd heard enough, and the look Ibuki was giving me when I pulled my head up told me she had said enough. I got up and moved toward the door.

"Thanks for the talk," I said, not sure if I meant that or not. "And I'm sorry about the arm."

"You're welcome, and don't worry about it. I'll get it taken care of when I get home."

I smiled a bit at that. Maybe the doctors in her village could do a better job on her.

* * *

Once I left the hospital room, we went home ourselves. It wasn't exactly a short ride, but it wasn't too long either. It was long enough for my mind to let Ibuki's words roll through a few times. She made sense, even if she made me mad in the process.

What if they were lying? What if they weren't the people they claimed to be? And why _did _I agree so easily to be a Maverick Hunter in the first place? Part of me wanted to say that it was because I wanted a more exciting life. It was one of the last clear thoughts to cross my mind before things in my life took such a huge turn. But why did I want that? Was I really so bored with my life that I was willing to just jump at the first thing to promise a change? What if I'd been asked to help commit crimes? Or join a gang? Would I have agreed to those as easily as I did to be a Maverick Hunter?

I had more questions than I had answers. Not very hard when the only answer I _did_ have was questionable at best. First things came first, though. I had to figure out a way to tell if Yuna and Koji Sakamoto really _were_ Ciel and Zero. Ideas about how to do that came and went, but none of them sounded good. I had finally settled on a really shaky idea when we'd made it home.

It was at that point that Dad, who'd been as quiet as me on the way, decided to say something. "Something wrong, Iris?"

I shook my head. "No, not really. Why?"

"I've been keeping an eye on you. You've been lost in thought the whole ride home. Something's bugging you."

The car came to a stop and I opened the door. "A little, but it's not something I want to talk about right now."

Mom, who was quiet too, jumped in. "Iris, you know you can talk to us about anything if you need to."

Could I? "I know, but I really don't want to talk about it right now."

Dad sighed. He really wanted to know what was bothering me. "Alright. Just know that we're here for you."

With that, the three of us silently made our way back into the house. My plan was to pick my moment before acting and trying to confront them. But, the saying about the best laid plans applied to this situation.

I was the last one through the door. As soon as it closed and locked behind me, I spoke.

"Tell me the truth." That caught Mom and Dad offguard. They both turned to me with confused looks on their faces. "Who are you two?"

Ibuki was right. I act on my impulses too much.


	31. Episode 8: Part 2

Now that what I wanted to say was out there, I couldn't help but feel like I was the subject of a couple of stares in the room. It didn't really help that the stares were from my parents on the heels of what I'd asked them. The conversation with Ibuki must've gotten to me more than I thought it did, because I originally wanted to think about things a little more before possibly confronting them about this.

Then again, according to my best friend, I'm not exactly a creature of forethought.

Again, another word I never thought I'd use.

To my surprise, neither Mom or Dad looked mad at me. Surprise seemed like it was a stronger reaction with them than anything. I gave them both the best look that I could. I wanted to look like I was serious, but not mad at them for anything. After all, how could I know that they were lying to me about anything? We were all silent for a few moments, nobody really moving or talking. The silence was painful to listen to. It wasn't one of those awkward silences that happens when nobody really knows what to say next, so nobody says anything to try and figure out that next sentence. This silence was one where nobody was really thinking. At least, I wasn't thinking. Eventually, Dad was the first person to say or do anything.

All he said were two simple words: "Sit down."

Even if they made it so I couldn't quite trust them, they were still my parents. There was still that bond between us that pressured me to obey them. I started toward the couch that sat in the center of our living room, but my first step was tougher than it should've been. My left leg felt heavier than normal, which was _exactly_ what I needed in this situation. The slight bit of extra effort to walk didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked, looking a little worried.

"I'm fine," I answered as I made it to the couch and sat down in the middle. I flexed the toes on the leg a couple of times, making sure I could still feel them. I could, but it took some effort to get comfortable about it. Mom and Dad sat down at my sides, sharing the same concerned look on their faces. Whether it was from me questioning them the way I was or over the condition of my leg was beyond me, but not my problem. My problem was that I needed to know what the truth was before I did anything else that required pressing buttons on my watch.

Mom sighed and dropped her head into her hand. She clearly wasn't happy with where this situation was about to go. I couldn't blame her. I wouldn't have been happy if I were in her situation, either. It wasn't bad enough that I was "calling her out," so to speak. Now she had to wonder if I needed a replacement leg.

The three of us sat in silence for a few minutes, nobody really doing anything beyond breathing. It was Mom that spoke first. "We don't have a choice." She said. She then picked her head up and looked at Dad. "You're going to have to call her."

It took Dad a second to figure out what she was talking about. Once he did, though, he gave her the most honest reaction I'd ever seen from him. His face fell so quickly I almost jumped up to try to catch it. Not that my leg would've let me.

"Oh, heck no."

Mom sighed. That was happening a lot tonight. "I don't like it either, but we need someone here who can verify what we're about to tell her."

"But _her_? Seriously?" Dad brought his hands up to his sides, probably fighting the urge to flail them everywhere. "What did I do to deserve something like that? Did I forget something important to you or something? Like a date? Or an event?"

Mom's eyebrows slowly started for form a scowl. "Sometimes I wonder if marrying you was worth the headache."

Dad didn't respond, other than the heaviest sigh I've ever heard, but he got up and walked out of the room. I assume it was to call whoever it was Mom told him to call. That didn't matter to me at that point, though. What mattered was that at some point I needed to get an answer to my question.

"Is there anything you want to tell me now?" I asked in a particular rush of boldness.

I got a cold look from her as a start to her response. "Firstly, check your attitude young lady. Secondly, yes. I suppose that I could give you a little information while we wait."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "'Information'?" I asked. "Information like that."

"To be honest," Mom said, shifting a bit. "Our original plan was to never get you involved."

"Wait, what do you mean you didn't want me involved?"

"Exactly what I said. Your father and I never intended you to find out about the armor, nor were you meant to don it in the first place."

I immediately regretted asking the question in the first place. All that did was put more questions into my head. Who was that armor supposed to be for? Why did they have the armor in the first place? Dad came back into the room at that point. He didn't look any happier coming back than he did when he left. If anything, he seemed _more_ upset. Not in an angry way, though, but more of a _depressed_ mood.

If this was my dad, and he was supposed to be Zero, then this was a side of him that I never expected to see. Maybe it was a side of him he didn't let a lot of people see.

"I got a hold of her." He said. If there are any other ways of saying that he wasn't happy, I can't think of them.

Mom nodded. "Then we should wait until she gets here. She can fill in whatever blanks you and I leave."

"This is a lot of stalling just to answer a question." I said. Both Mom _and _Dad glared at me that time, making me shrink a bit. Both of their angry stares told me that I should've kept that as a thought. I would've, had that been a thought and not just a running of the mouth.

Before long, a knock came from our front door. If I could've, I would've gotten up to answer it. By that point, though, I had lost feeling in my foot, meaning that the rest of the leg wasn't too far behind. It turned out to be fine, though, since Dad was the one to get up. Once he'd opened the door, I knew just how much he didn't want to make the call Mom told him to make.

On the other side of that door stood one of my teachers from school, wearing what would be her trademark flat expression.

Ms. Levi Fair.

At that point, overall moods sank to a new low. I couldn't believe that the person Mom expected to help them prove things was the one teacher in my life who nearly ruined it. Thanks to her, I had developed a fear to rock climbing that had nothing to do with the actual act of scaling obscenely large boulders. How was she supposed to help Mom and Dad try to prove anything anyway? As far as I knew, this was the first time that they had even met. Then again, they _did_ have her phone number for whatever reason.

I guess giving them the benefit of the doubt when it came to here wouldn't be a bad idea. I still had no idea what she could do or say that would make me believe anything going on.

Out of curiosity, I decided to take a look to see what kinds of reactions were happening around me. I could see that Mom wasn't happy either. She looked like she was regretting the decision she'd wasn't really that much of a surprise, since Mom wasn't too thrilled about the idea of calling Ms. Fair to come to our house in the first place.

Even though I couldn't see his face, I was pretty sure Dad was just about to hit rock bottom. As much as Mom didn't want to do this, Dad was the one who was terrified over the idea. I had no idea (for the umpteenth time that night) about what Ms. Fair's connection to my family was, but it looked like Dad regretted it.

The only other person left was the only person that didn't really have a reason to be down about anything. In fact, something happened that never even crossed my mind as a possibility. Ms. Fair's lips, which I figured were pretty much permanently set to "flat" based on all the interaction I've had with her, twisted themselves into the biggest smirk I'd ever seen from her. She almost looked like a cat in a comic. I half expected there to be a glint in her eye. The only reason I didn't was because it was too far from where I was sitting on the sofa to the front door where she stood for me to see anything like that.

What happened next made my eyes explode in size and I'm sure would've had Mom doing a spit take if she were drinking anything. As it was, she opted to nearly jump out of her skin instead. Ms. Fair, with no warning, suddenly jumped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Dad. I was just surprised that she didn't wrap her legs around him. Dad, to his credit, stood there like he had no idea what to do.

Which he probably didn't. Again, not a big surprise. At least, not big compared to what had already happened.

"Honey!" She said in the giddiest tone I'd ever heard _anyone_, let alone her, use. "You have no idea how much I've missed you! I wasn't expecting you to call me. Did you finally get tired of that little runt over there and decide to upgrade?"

Wait, what?!

"Hey! Get off of him, you nutball!" Mom shouted. She jumped off the sofa and ran over to the two in the doorway. She then tried to pry Ms Fair off of Dad, which worked about as well as trying to separate welded steel with your bare hands. "You could do something to help!"

"Like what?!" Dad cried, trying to snake his hands between himself and Ms. Fair. "I need a sword to get her away from me!"

"Why would you want to separate us?!" Ms. Fair shouted at Mom. "Can't you leave us alone, you little troll?!"

"You're not here to be a home wrecker! You're here to talk!"

The whole thing looked like something out of a comedy show. I had to fight back a laugh. Not because it wasn't funny, because it was. Instead, I fought it back to try to help my parents hopefully maintain some semblance of dignity.

It was only a couple of minutes later that everybody had calmed down for the most part and started taking seats in the living room.

"I am already regretting this decision." Mom said, holding her face in her hand. Dad sat as though he was relaxed, but I could tell that he wasn't taking his eyes off of Ms. Fair. He was probably expecting another surprise attack.

Again, Ms. Fair smirked, this one somewhat less playful than before. "You two can relax. I was only playing around. I didn't mean anything I said." With that, she lifted her left hand, displaying a simple ring on her third finger. Dad breathed a sigh of relief. He took that as a sign that she wasn't going to give him, or by extension his family, anymore grief. Mom, on the other hand, gave her one of her patented glares. Ms. Fair, to her credit, completely ignored the look she was getting.

"So then, what could be so important that I had to be called here on an emergency basis?"

Mom's expression softened. "Well, our daughter here..." Great. Don't identify me by name. Does wonders for my self-confidence. "...found out about us."

Ms. Fair looked confused. "Found out what, exactly?"

Mom's look sharpened a bit. "_Us._" She answered, pointing a finger between Dad and herself. Ms. Fair took a moment to try and decode the message in her head before her face exploded in realization.

"You told her?"

This time, Dad answered her. "No. She found out on her own."

"Ah. But that doesn't really answer my question. What do you two need _me_ here for?"

Mom rubbed at one of her temples. "Well, we were hoping that you would be able to vouch for us."

Ms. Fair nodded. It didn't take a genius to figure out what 'vouching for them' meant. She then turned to me.

"What, you don't believe them?"

I shook my head. "It's not that. It's that it's..._very hard_...to believe it."

"Oh, so you don't trust them." Before I could respond, she stood up. Ms. Fair had a fresh smirk on her face. This one wasn't like the one she had before she literally jumped on Dad. This smirk felt like she knew something I didn't. It made sense, since she was called in for that exact reason.

Ms. Fair raised that same left hand that brought Dad relief. There wasn't anything of interest that I could see on her wrist, but that didn't stop her from tapping at it with her other hand a couple of times. What was odd about it was that there was a quiet beeping to go with each tap. Once she was done, she brought her hands down to her sides, her smirk not budging one bit.

For everything that happened after we got home from my trip to the hospital, all of it was trumped by something that I would've never seen coming if I was warned about it days beforehand.

The room was suddenly bathed in a bright glow that came from where Ms. Fair was standing.


End file.
